


Welcome To New York

by Okaylittlebrother



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: 5x01, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst, Cora owns a coffee shop, Derek Leaves Beacon Hills, Derek is such a grumpy butt, Drunk Danny, Drunk Stiles, Emotional Constipation, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Gen, I'll add more tags later, M/M, Mutual Pining, Sleepovers, Stiles and Cora are Friends, Stiles and Danny are best friends/roommates, Stiles find out he's part of Derek's pack, pack movie night, past season references, season 4, season 5, slow burn sterek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-08
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-04-13 13:57:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 36,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4524591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Okaylittlebrother/pseuds/Okaylittlebrother
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Derek has been on Stiles' mind ever since he saw the werewolves initials in the library during Senior Scribe. He plans on attending NYU in the fall just to be close to him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [defendt0pbunk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/defendt0pbunk/gifts).



> sorry this is late, i wanted to write a few chapters before i posted it. also i've been very busy. once again, this AU is taken from Kara's headcanon list. unbeta'd, sorry. the title of this AU is taken from Taylor Swift's Welcome To New York.

"Are you _sure_ you wanna do this, man?" Scott asks for what seems like the billionth time. Stiles doesn't even know. He's lost count over the last few months.  
  
The whole pack was standing outside Scott's house by Stiles' Jeep saying goodbye. Liam was pressed tightly into Scott's side and Kira was leaning against Malia, Lydia; against the hood of the Jeep.  
  
Stiles just gave him a reassuring smile and clapped his hand on Scott's shoulder. "Yes dude, for the last time! It's not like I can bail now, NYU already accepted me." He chuckled.  
  
He made up his mind toward the end of Junior year, right after Derek left and sure enough, he stuck with it. That's where he was heading right after he said goodbye to his friends.  
  
A long stretch of silence fell over the group for a few minutes.  
  
"I can't believe you're leaving..." Stiles turned to his right to see a teary eyed Malia. He stepped toward her and Kira moved out of the way so the two of them could hug properly.  
  
"Hey," he soothed rubbing soft circles in to here back. "It's alright. I'll be back soon enough." He told her as he squeezed her tightly. "Thanksgiving, matter of fact, i'll be home for sure."   
  
He pulled away after a few seconds. "You guys do know texting is a thing, right?" He asked, looking at all of them, raising an eyebrow. "And Skype?" He added.  
  
Soft laughter erupted within the small circle by the curb and that made something inside Stiles' chest ache.  
  
He was on the verge of tears but he swallowed them back and smiled instead. It wasn't like he was leaving forever. He'd see them all again in a few months, no worries.  
  
"Liam! You keep my boy out of trouble, you hear me?" Stiles ordered jokingly.  
  
That just earned him an eye roll from the Alpha. " _I'll_   keep _everyone_ out of trouble, because that's what _Alpha's_ are supposed to do." Scott retorted.  
  
Stiles just pulled him into a bear hug and held on for as long as his best friend would let him.   
  
"See ya, man." He whispered into the human's hair, senting him.  
  
Stiles stood in Scott's grasp and waited for him to finish, after a few minutes Stiles began to wiggle out of his hold, "c'mon Wolf Boy, that's enough. I gotta get goin'."  
  
Scott pulled away reluctantly and let Lydia finally say her goodbyes.  
  
She just stared at him for a second before letting out a giggle and pulling him in for a hug. "Got everything?" She asked, pressing the side of her face into his chest.   
  
"Mhm." He hummed.  
  
"Phone? Gas and hotel money? Your _brain?"_ She joked.  
  
A laugh rumbled through his chest. "Yes, I have everything."  
  
She squeezed him as tightly as she could. "I'll miss you, Stiles."   
  
"I'll miss you too, Lyds. I'll miss all of you."  
  
She huffed a laugh just them to mask the fact that she was crying into Stiles shirt. "Text or call us every chance you get, okay? Don't forget about your friends in Beacon Hills."  
  
That made a sad smile fall across his face as well as made his heart ache a little. He could never forget anyone back home. Ever.  
  
"I could never do that." He reassured, as he planted a kiss atop her strawberry blonde hair before pulling away. She turned quickly to check her make up in the passenger side mirror.  
  
Stiles rounded the Jeep and climbed in shutting the door.  
  
"You go this thing fixed, right?" Scott asked just wanting to make sure. The last time he looked under the hood of this thing— _completely_ covered in duct tape.  
  
"Yes." Stiles nodded and ran his hands over the steering wheel.  
  
Scott glared at him.  
  
"I did, I swear on my life!" Stiles raised his hands in mock surrender.  
  
"Just making sure, don't want this piece of shit dying on you in the middle of nowhere."  
  
" _Hey!_ Take that back!" He gasped. "It's alright girl, he didn't mean it." He soothed gently to his Jeep as he caressed the steering wheel.  
  
Scott rolled his eyes. "You got a kit in the back?"  
  
Stiles nodded.  
  
"Snacks for the road?"  
  
He patted the bag and the cooler in the passenger seat that were full of drinks and snack foods.  
  
"Phone charger?"  
  
Stiles pointed to the floor where his charger was plugged in.  
  
"Call me if anything happens." The Alpha ordered.  
  
"I will, don't worry."  
  
"Stiles, i'm serious, dude. Call me if anything happens. Call me if you stop, call if you get a hotel, anything. I want to make sure you get to New York safely, until Derek can take the reigns."  
  
Stiles nodded and looked at Scott.  
  
"...You...  _did_ tell him you were coming to New York... _didn't you?"_ He asked.  
  
Stiles winced and dropped his gaze to the floor. "I...may have...forgotten...that _tiny_  detail..." He explained slowly.  
  
Scott's eyes were wide and his mouth gaped as he let out a heavy sigh. "Stiles, man... What— I, what are you gonna do if something happens?" Scott asked, voice a little louder than it should be. He's clearly upset, he has a right to be.  
  
"I..."  
  
"Stiles," he huffs.  
  
"What?" He whines in response. "I didn't want to bother him. It'll be less stressful for him if he doesn't know i'm in New York. I don't want to put that responsibility of constantly watching over me on his shoulders. The guy has too much to  deal with already. Why would I add to it?"   
  
"Because he cares about you?" The werewolf nearly shouts, drawing the attention of the rest of the pack toward the vehicle.  
  
They can't fucking do this now. Not now. Not when he's going away to college _clear across the country._  He doesn't want to part on bad terms with his best friend.  
  
"You're right." Stiles breathes. "I should have told him I was coming. That was my bad. I'll call him when I stop." He tells Scott.  
  
"Please?" He asks. "I don't want to have to worry about you for three days straight."  
  
Stiles nods and starts the engine. "I will, promise."   
  
Scott taps the hood of the Jeep and backs away from the curb. "Call me when you stop." He reminds the other boy. "And please for the love of everything that is holy, Stiles. _Be safe."_  
  
"Roger that, McCall." He salutes his best friend and waves to everyone else and drives off down the road, watching the pack disappear in the rear view mirror.

  
\---

  
His first stop was for gas seven hours into his drive in Holbrook Arizona. Scott _did_ say text him whenever he stopped.   
  
He pulled his phone off the dashboard and closed the speedometer app (the speedometer in the Jeep was shot) to shoot Scott a quick text.  
  
**To Scott: Still alive! Stopped to fuel up in Holbrook AZ**  
  
He figured he could keep driving until around 3 am or until he felt tired. He'd park at a rest stop to get some sleep, then continue driving around 6 or 7.  
  
It'd save him at least 80 bucks on a hotel room. Plus he was young, he could damn near sleep anywhere in any position if he wanted, so reclining the drivers seat back wouldn't be that much of a problem. He'd just get out and stretch his legs for a little while if he felt cramped.  
  
He got a text from Scott an hour later.  
  
**From Scott: I hope you called Derek to let him know you're coming**  
  
Stiles huffed a laugh. He'd do it the next time he stopped. Just thinking about talking to Derek right now made knots form in his stomach. The last time they spoke to each other was in the back of the van on their way to Mexico, when they were tracking down Kate and even then they didn't say much. Stiles just remembers looking back at him right after he got ripped to shreds by one of Kate's berserkers, debating on whether to stay by his side or run into the temple to help find Scott and Kira. After saving the two of them Derek left without so much as a goodbye. That's why Stiles was so terrified about Senior year ending, because he didn't want to lose his friends like he lost Derek.  
  
Next time turned into "I've already talked to him" and that turned into "he's expecting me", but that was just another lie. Thank God Scott couldn't hear his change in heart beat over texts because then he'd be fucked.  
  
He was right about the sleeping part. The first time he yawned he just got into Amarillo. He figured he'd continue driving until he found a rest stop, get a few hours of sleep and get back at it again.  
  
The first thing he did when he put the car in park was pull out his phone.  
  
**To Scott: Sleeping in Amarillo**  
  
**From Scott: Alright dude. Glad you made it there safely. Text me in a few hours when you take off**  
  
He slid his phone in his pocket and made his way to the bathroom. All those Redbulls and Gatorades really caused a lot of problems when he chugged them. The last time he pissed was four hours ago in Arizona. He stopped at a Burger King and grabbed a sandwich for the road.  
  
When he returned to the Jeep he reached into the back seat to grab his pillow then reclined the seat until it stopped. He situated himself until he was as comfortable as he could get in the drivers seat, then instantly closed his eyes. He moved around for about fifteen minutes before pulling out his phone.  
  
**Group text with Lydia, Scott, Malia, Kira: Please tell me one of you are awake.. I can't sleep :(**  
  
He thought about adding Derek to the list, but decided against it, one because: he probably changed his number and two: he had absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of Stiles coming to New York in the first place.  
  
**Lydia: Hey!**  
  
**Another beep came two seconds after.**  
  
**Malia: Scott said you were in Texas! Making progress I see :)**  
  
**Group text: Yeah, i'm at a rest stop bc I don't wanna pay for a room. The steering wheel's in my way :((( so uncomfortable**  
  
**Lydia: You are so unbelievably stubborn, Stiles. Get a cheap room at a motel.**  
  
**Malia: I agree**  
  
**Group text: Gross, motel mattresses are no doubt crawling with STDs that Stiles does not want**  
  
**Lydia: It's only like four hours tops**  
  
**Group text: Uh, five. I'm leaving at 7**  
  
Stiles falls asleep  waiting for a reply from either of them. Only to be woken up by the morning sun shining brightly in his eyes.  
  
He climbs out of the Jeep once again and yawns before stretching his limbs and slowly trudging to the bathroom. He'd leave here, find somewhere to get breakfast and gas up the Jeep and jump back on the highway.  
  
If he guessed right, he could be in Tulsa by noon. That's if he only stops once to pee. Of course he'd text Scott to let him know he's still alive and made it there without any car trouble.  
  
He's drumming on the steering wheel to the beat of Sleeping With Sirens "If You Can't Hang" as it blasts through the speakers. He had to buy an AUX cord before he left because there was no fucking way he was going to be able to survive 3 whole days cramped in the Jeep listening to the shitty radio stations that barely came in as he drove through each state. That's all him and the pack did the prior weekend, was download music to his phone, so he'd have something for the road.  
  
He made it to Tulsa a few minutes ahead of schedule. He stopped for lunch and to fuel up and was back on the highway.  
  
He was doing alright until he hit a traffic jam in Springfield Missouri. Traffic was backed up for at least a mile or 2. He let out a frustrated groan and slammed his fist against the steering wheel. "Come on!" He whined.    
  
He pulled his phone off the dash in a fit of anger and tapped furiously against the screen.  
  
**To Scott: Fucking traffic jams! I'm so pissed right now!**  
  
**From Scott: Sorry about that, pup. I wish there was something I could do.**  
  
**To Scott: Shoot me**  
  
**From Scott: Don't talk like that man**  
  
Stiles sighed and closed his eyes. If Scott were here right now, his eyes would flash red as a warning for Stiles to calm down.  
  
He's been sitting here for an hour, waiting on traffic to just— fucking move already. This is putting his arrival time to New York so behind schedule. He's been driving for almost 22 hours. He just wants to sleep in a bed. He wants to see Derek, no matter how much trouble it would cause him.   
  
Who the hell just leaves without saying goodbye? Especially to Stiles of all people. Derek fucking Hale— that's who. Stiles doesn't know what he'll do if he sees him. Right now, he's pretty torn between hugging him tightly and slapping him across the face. He's thinking about the latter, and if he stands there with that scowl-y look he always has, Stiles will just go on and on about why he deserves it.  
  
He evolved when they were in Mexico, Stiles didn't see it, but that's what Braeden told him. So just because he can wolf out all the way now, he has to leave? Well it does make sense, his mom did the same thing when she was still alive. But Stiles thought him and Derek had something. Call him crazy, but the way he'd look at him or how he'd glance at Stiles for just a few seconds too long, or that one time where he was hiding in his room just watching him do homework... Okay, maybe that last one was a little bit along the lines of stalking, but still. He thought there was something there, but now he can't be sure.  
  
He's ran over all the scenarios in his head about when he sees Derek. He could have told him he was on his way to New York and still have an argument about it, then have hot, angry, werewolf make up sex. Or scenario: number two where Derek is so surprised to see him, he invites him out for a drink to catch up then invites him back to his apartment, they argue and then have hot, angry, werewolf make up sex.  
  
Thank God he's alone because now he has a boner. In the middle of a traffic jam. Fuck his life. He's still an 18 year old virgin so you can't blame him.

  
\---

  
He's back to driving 45 minutes later. He should make it to St. Louis in an hour or less. Maybe he'd get something to eat, because God, he was craving a burger or something.   
  
He was so wrong, it was a 3 hour drive to St. Louis. By the time he got something in his stomach it was almost 8:00. He'd have to stop for a few hours to get some sleep. He was already behind schedule. Maybe if he drove until 3 am. Maybe he'd get back on track. Stop somewhere and get at least two hours of sleep. He'd drink a few Five Hour Energies to keep him awake since he couldn't drink caffeine.   
  
He ended up stopping at 2 am at a Flying J Travel Plaza in Columbus Ohio. Too bad they closed at midnight because when he was walking to the bathroom he saw a Cinnabon and that really made him want a cinnamon roll.  
  
Maybe he'd stop on his way back through in a few months. Or maybe he'd fly back because this driving for 3 days shit, was absolutely ridiculous. It didn't seem so bad before, because he'd never actually done it. It would've been fun to have someone to share this road trip with but Scott has to stay with the pack and Derek— Derek, he—  
  
So it was just Stiles, by himself, just jamming out alone eating his snacks, and sometimes thinking about Derek.  
  
It's funny because the closer he got to New York, the worse he felt. Like something terrible was going to happen. Like if Derek saw him on the street in New York he'd be disappointed, and Stiles' wandering mind didn't make it any better. He was filling his own head with so much bullshit it was hard to think.   
  
"Take a breath, Stiles." He ordered himself after a heavy sigh. "It's probably not a big of a deal as you're making it out to be. He's not gonna rip your throat with his teeth like you imagine him doing."   
  
Let's hope he can go 9 more hours without thinking about Sourwolf. By then he should be in New York. Fuck him.  
  
On the bright side. He may be a few cities over. Or maybe across the city. Or— his family has a vacation home somewhere in New York. Yeah, he'll think about that. Instead of Derek.  
  
Until he can't not think of Derek. He's just past the "Pennsylvania Welcomes You" sign.  Just thinking about how in a few short hours he'll see "Welcome to New York, The Empire State", and he's dreading it. God is he dreading it.  
  
He'll probably just never leave campus. Ever. In fear of seeing Derek. He'll make a few friends just so he won't have to go out to do what ever he needs to, his friends could do it for him.   
  
If someone wants him to go to a party. He'll lie and say he has a huge test to cram for.  
  
He's going to be there for four years. He has to talk to him eventually, even though it may hurt in the most unimaginable of ways. He'll have to face his problems head on.  
  
Just thinking about this, Stiles wonders if Cora might be there with Derek. It's a possibility. It would be a lot better if he bumped into her first instead of him because he could tell her not to tell Derek he's attending NYU and that he's close by. Derek knows his scent pretty damn well. He'd probably tell that he was around his sister. Fuck werewolves and their heightened werewolf-y senses.

\---  
  
"Welcome to New York,  the Empire state." He breathes unenthusiastically as he passes the sign.   
  
He drove until he made it to NYU. He unload what little he had in the Jeep and walked up the sidewalk to the double doors to look for Registration. When he found it he walked up to the table.   
  
"Name, please?" A blonde girl asked politely with a bright smile.  
  
"Stilinski." Stiles supplied.  
  
She peered down at her clipboard, shuffling through the pages in a huge packet. "Ah!" She smiled, finding his name in her list. Her eyes grew comically wide as she let out a gasp.  
  
He waits for it every time.  
  
"My goodness, that is quite the mouthful, Mr. Stilinski."   
  
"Save your breath. Please, call me Stiles." He replies with a chuckle. Though that's the fun part; standing there waiting for whoever it was to pronounce his Polish name correctly. Sadly, this girl looked like she had been here for *hours* and he really didn't want her to go through all that trouble.  
  
She handed him a key, "there you are, Stiles. You're on the third floor,  in dorm room number 313, with Danny Mahealani, who also happens to be a Freshman as well."  
  
His heart lurched at the name. He had no idea that Danny applied to NYU. What are the fucking chances? That's crazy! He hadn't seen him since— Stiles' grin faltered as he made his way to the elevator trying to think of something other than the night two of his friends died.  
  
He made it to his floor and approached his door, turning the key in the lock and pushing the door open. Well, Danny seemed to have already made himself at home. As he had already claimed the right half of the room with posters on the walls and his bed all made up and books and thing on the night stand. It was very homey feeling.   
  
Stiles brought two boxes and a backpack with him. Which was kinda sad if you think about it, most kids bring their entire room from home when they go away to college. Not Stiles, his jeep wouldn't be able to hold all the things in his room. Though that's exactly why he had a credit card, he's been saving up for college since before Claudia got sick. His father was worried about the money situation but he assured him that he had everything taken care of, but if he needed *anything* just call his dad and he'd wire him some money. Of course he'd have to find a job soon. His dad could only help him for so long.  
  
John told him that he'd mail a bunch of his stuff out here soon, but for now, what he unpacked from those two boxes was all he had. His pillow, and a small blanket were thrown onto the bed for the time being until he had time to go pick out a bed set. He brought a few of his posters though. They were the first things he hung up.  
  
He sighed and sat against the headboard and made a list on his phone of all the stuff he'll need:  
  
•Bed set (full?)  
•More pillows  
•Towels/shower stuff  
•Mini fridge??  
•Binders and shit for class!  
  
He'd add more to it later, if he thought of anything else. Just then, the door swung opened across the room. "Hey man, i'm— Stiles?" He started to introduce himself before he looked up to see who he was going to be rooming with.  
  
Stiles looked at Danny in confusion, a smile spreading across his face. He let out a chuckle. "No man, i'm pretty sure _i'm_ Stiles." He joked.  
  
Danny laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, the apples of his cheeks turning pink from embarrassment. "Yeah, obviously. How've you been, man?" He asked pulling him into a one armed hug.  
  
Stiles hugged him back and chuckled. "Good man, really good."  
  
"How's the pack?"  
  
"Awesome!" He nodded with a smile. "Scott, uh, actually has a new Beta."  
  
Danny gasped in surprise then huffed a laugh. "No shit?"  
  
"Yeah. Yeah, Liam Dunbar, actually."  
  
"The scrawny lacrosse kid?" Danny asked.  
  
Stiles nodded, "that would be him."  
  
"Oh man, how'd that happen?"  
  
"After you left Beacon Hills, there was this whole dead pool deal going on and he was helping us. He was on the roof with Scott and slipped, he almost lost his grip, so Scott bit him."   
  
"Ho-ly shit! That's fucking crazy, none of our people got hurt or anything, right?" Danny asked worriedly, "that would've sucked. I don't think we can handle losing anymore of our friends..."  
  
"No, no! Everyone's fine." He reassured the other boy. "You've missed quite a lot since you left."  
  
Danny just happened to glance passed Stiles shoulder and noticed how barren his side of the room was. "Dude, where's all your stuff?"  
  
"Wha—" Stiles perked up and turned on his toes really fast like a total spazz, almost hitting Danny in the face. "Oh." He said slowly, wincing. "I only brought two boxes with me." He confessed. "Not much can fit in the Jeep."  
  
"You're still driving that thing?" Danny asked in total disbelief. "More importantly: it's still running?" He asked again.  
  
"Yes and yes. I will never abandon my baby. Ever. You know this, D. Get with the program already!" Stiles joked.  
  
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" He laughed. "I've known this for years. But as far as dorm stuff goes, that—" he gestured to the single pillow and the poor excuse of a blanket. "Or actually— all of it!" He gestured with his arm to Stiles side of the room. "Is not gonna work. It doesn't even look lived it, dude. Like I don't even have a roommate."  
  
"Well I—" suddenly the door was swinging open and Stiles was being dragged into the hallway by his wrist, stumbling behind Danny. "Whoa, dude! What are we doing?" Stiles asked frantically.  
  
"We're going to Target! I'm not letting you live like this." He said still dragging Stiles behind him.  
  
"It's fin—"  
  
"Shhh! Shut you're mouth, Stilinski! It's happening. I'll buy everything if I have to, I swear to God."  
  
So Stiles let himself be dragged to the elevator, until they reached his Jeep, he refused to get in so Danny took the keys, which is a absolute no no, because— hello! No one but _Stiles_ drive his Jeep, okay? This is not happening.  
  
So this is definitely happening.  Danny's driving the Jeep. Okay. Awesome. Fan-fucking-tastic.   
  
There's not much he can do about it now, except lean his head against the window in despair and wait. It's a 15 minute drive.  
  
He's totally driving back though.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a little longer than the last, and that's how it's gonna be from here on out. there's a lot more Sterek in this chapter so please enjoy it :)

The two of them end up walking out of Target with more stuff than they had originally planned.   
  
He got sheets and pillows like he needed. Some shower stuff too. Basically just everything that was on his list, excluding the mini fridge. They spent the majority of their time in the Back to College section. Danny even bought a Kuerig machine for when he didn't have time to run down the street before class to get a cup of coffee.  
  
"Thanks." Stiles said sincerely when they got in the car. "You honestly didn't have to do that."  
  
Danny looked over at him and raised an eyebrow, "yes. I honestly did. You're not sleeping on a bare mattress with a tiny ass lap blanket, dude. I can't allow that. What were you thinking? 'Oh i'll just drive 2,000 some odd miles across the country to pick up the boxes I left.' No. Sorry man, but that's not how college works." He explained.  
  
"No I was actually thinking more along the lines of 'Thanksgiving's in two months, i'll get it then.'but you won't have that either, will you?" He asked glancing over to the passenger seat.  
  
Danny just grinned, "you'd be absolutely correct." A long comfortable silence fell over the car as they drove back to campus. After awhile Danny looked over at Stiles. "So, how's Derek?"  
  
Stiles took a deep breath and gripped the wheel a little to tight. What was he supposed to say? That he was good? That he hadn't spoken to him in almost a year? He honestly didn't know how Derek was. Stiles shook his head, "I honestly don't know. We haven't spoken in almost a year."  
  
Danny's mouth dropped open at the confession. "What? Are you serious? Why? What happened?"  
  
Stiles just huffed a laugh because it was all so ridiculous. "It's a long, complicated story." He explained.  
  
"We got time..." Danny gave him a half smile.  
  
"Well," Stiles sighed. "It happened after you left. We went to Mexico to save Scott and Kira..." Stiles started from the beginning, right before Danny left Beacon Hills, explained to him about what all happened after he left and about the deadpool and how Kate took Derek to Mexico and they found him de-aged in a tomb of Wolfsbane.   
  
Danny shut the door behind him and dove onto his bed, "so she made Scott one of those—"  
  
"Berserkers."  
  
"And his friends and Peter tried to kill them?" He asked.  
  
Stiles nodded.  
  
"Alright. So what I don't understand is how any of this has to do with Derek..."  
  
"When we got to the temple Derek got out of the van and he was stabbed by one of the Berserkers. To the point where Braeden said he was dead, but he wasn't, he was evolving so he could shift into an actual wolf. And then we save Scott and Kira then  he decided to leave without saying goodbye and I haven't heard from him since." He explained.  
  
"...but he's in town right?" Danny asked slowly.  
  
"Yeah, but—"  
  
"So then find him! Figure out where he's staying and pay him a visit. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."   
  
"I don't know," Stiles replied softly as he played with hem of his new comforter. "I feel like he didn't say goodbye to me for a reason, ya know?" He looked across the room at the other boy. "I mean, it's been a fucking year, he's probably seeing someone by now."  Great, now he's feeling bad about this all over again.  
  
Stiles watched as Danny's eyes grew wider, he shot up instantly. "You know what? There's this new café down the street a few blocks, guess who owns it?" He asked.  
  
Stiles groaned loudly and dropped his head to the mattress. "Please don't say Derek, please don't say Derek, don't say Derek." He chanted frantically into the fabric.  
  
"No, not Derek."  
  
Stiles cut him off, sighing in relief. "Oh, thank God!"  
  
"Cora."  
  
"Fuck me." He groaned again. "That's even worse!"  
  
"You're getting all grumpy and you don't even know what I was gonna say."  
  
"Whatever it is, i'm pretty sure it's a really dumb idea..." He guessed.  
  
"Just that, maybe Cora knows his where abouts.."  
  
"Oh no," Stiles shot up quickly. "We're not going to a coffee shop just to ask mini Derek where the real Derek is. Nope! Not happening!"   
  
Danny sat up as well, folding his legs into a pretzel. "It's the only way, Stiles. Think about it; you ask Cora, she tells you where Derek is, you go to his place, you talk to him and try to figure this out. 'Cause let me tell you, this moping you're doing isn't cute. To be honest, it actually makes me sad. You need to fix this, man the fuck up! It's the only way."  
  
"What if I don't want to man up?" Stiles whined as he kicked his feet on the bed.  
  
"Unacceptable. The sooner you do this, the better. So I was thinking tomorrow morning?" He suggested.  
  
"Oh God Danny, no!" He whined pitifully. "If this all goes to shit, i'm blaming you. Then i'm asking for a new roommate." He teased.  
  
"Oh, it's gonna be like that, huh?" Danny asked with a laugh. He sat up and grabbed a pillow from behind him and launched it across the room at Stiles' head.  
  
"Yep." Stiles rang in with a laugh as well as he tried dodging the pillow. "It's gonna be like that."  
  
Danny kissed his teeth at the other boy. "C'mon Stilinski, don't be like that! You know i'd pick you over any dude in this school to be roommates with."  
  
"Yeah," Stiles replied with a fond smile. "I know that."  
  
It was getting kind of late and both of them decided to call it a night. If Stiles planned on seeing Derek tomorrow, he'd need his rest just in case they got in an argument. Stiles walked out of the bathroom, in his Batman pajamas, teeth freshly brushed. He tossed Danny's pillow that had been launched at his head back over to his side, before he climbed into bed.   
  
He could already tell that tomorrow was going to be a long day.

  
\---  
  
Stiles woke with his stomach in knots. The early morning sun filtered through the new blinds and danced across his face. He threw the blanket over his head and groaned. Today is going to suck so bad.  
  
He knew this because nearly every time he had dealt with Derek in the past, it ended badly. It was mostly him shouting at Stiles and flashing his stupidly gorgeous red Alpha eyes. Other times Stiles would leave his loft crying like a baby.  
  
But he's not in the wrong this time, Derek is. Has been for the past year. So if he goes there, he's gonna force himself not to cry, because this is completely Derek's fault to begin with. He left him. Well, not really because they were never actually a thing. But he left him alone and he has been on Stiles' mind ever since.  
  
He fell asleep for about another hour or so, until the smell of coffee filled the room. Then he heard what could only be the sound of the coffee machine beeping, letting Danny know his coffee was ready.  
  
"That smells really good." Stiles yawned as he stretched.  
  
Danny whipped his head around, startled. "He's awake." He stated from across the room. "Big day today." He reminded Stiles, who was still lying motionless on his bed.  
  
Stiles groaned and scrubbed his face with his hand. "Don't remind me."  He said as he moved to sit up. "Can I get a cup of that?" He nodded toward the coffee machine.  
  
Danny beamed at him from behind the little Dixie cup that was tipped up toward his mouth before he lowered it slowly. "Aren't you not allowed to have caffeine because of your ADHD?" Danny could have sworn Stiles was on medication, he remembers him taking something right after breakfast everyday.  
  
Ya know what? Nevermind." Stiles waved it off. "I'll just get some when we see Cora." He stated and that just got him a confused look from Danny.  
  
"Speaking of," Danny spoke again, as he stood up throwing his cup in the trash, then walking over to Stiles to pat his leg. "Get ready, we're gonna leave soon."  
  
So Stiles did. He took a shower and got dressed. Even debated on wearing cologne, but decided against it because Derek told him it smelled really bad and for him to never wear it again. So he's not going to.  
  
Stiles stepped out of the bathroom and looked at Danny for outfit approval. "How do I look? Stupid?" Danny just stared at him. "Yeah," he answered his own question and turned on his toes to go back into the bathroom to change.   
  
Danny grabbed his arm. "You like fine, dude. Honestly. You're wearing what you usually wear. It's fine, let's go already. You're stalling."  
  
Stiles kissed his teeth and glared at him, obviously offended, as he let himself be dragged out the door, _again_. Really? What's up with all the dragging?  "I am not stalling!" He retorted.  
  
Danny stopped in the hallway. "Really?" He looked at him. "Cause it's—" he glanced down at his phone then held it up to show Stiles. "10:13. You woke up at 8:30. You've been in the bathroom for an hour getting all dulled up for a guy that probably nonchalantly checks you out when you're in a hoodie and sweatpants."  
  
Stiles sighed loudly and followed him out to the Jeep. There may or maybe not be a rule that Freshman can't have cars? If that's the case he'll have to find somewhere else to park it.  
  
Danny puts the address of the coffee shop into Stiles phone and they get there in a few minutes because it's literally 3 or four blocks from campus.  
  
"I don't think i'm ready for this, Danny." Stiles states, his voice barely above a whisper. He sighed and drops his head back against the seat before closing his eyes and breathes.  
  
Danny took his belt off and turned in his seat to face Stiles. "Didn't you say this is one of the reasons you wanted to attend NYU— to be close to Derek?" He asked.  
  
He was right. It was pretty much the only reason. That and Psychology.   
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Okay, but if you're not talking to him about what happened how do you expect to be close with him again? You wanna be with him, right?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess, but I won't be able to if the dumbass keeps throwing me mixed signals." Stiles explained.  
  
"Exactly! And that's why we're here— to fix it. One step at a time; starting with Cora." Danny reminded him. "So let's go." He persuaded him to get out of the car.   
  
"Wait!" Stiles slammed the door and ran up on the curb to catch up with his new roommate. "We're not going to his house or anything, right?" He panted. He wasn't ready for that. You could tell just by the frightened look on his freckled face.  
  
Danny pulled him into his side by his shoulder and smiled. "That's why I said _baby steps_ , Stiles. You have nothing to worry about. Everything's going to be fine, I promise." He calmly reassured him as he held the door open to walk in.  
  
The whole place kind of gave off this hipster vibe. There were too many chairs and couches. There was a stage. Posters and pictures were hung on the walls. He swears he heard Danny say that Cora owned this place. That's impossible. Mini Derek couldn't possib—  
  
"Hello!" Danny snapped his fingers in Stiles' face to get his attention. "What do you want, man?"   
  
Stiles was finally brought back to reality. "Hm? What?" He asked, shaking himself from his thoughts.  
  
"I'm gonna order, what do you want?"  
  
"You sure?" Stiles asked, "I feel like I should buy this time. You paid for Target.."  
  
"Oh my God," Danny inhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sure, fine, go ahead, venti caramel frappicino ." He called loudly as Stiles began to walk away.  
  
He studied the menu while he waited in line to order. What the fuck is a Venti? Trenta? What the fuck? Small, medium, and large are so much easier to remember, oh my God. Fuck it, he'll get what Danny's getting.  
  
"Welcome to Brew Nation, what can I get for you today?" The girl behind the counter— Caitlyn asked.  
  
"Yeah, can I have two Venti Caramel Frappicinos, please?"  
  
"Is that all?" She asked as she rang up his order. Stiles nodded. "Alright, your total today comes to $6.75."  
  
He fished his wallet from his pocket and pulled $7.00 out. As he handed her the money, the door behind the counter swung up and Stiles froze in place, he stopped breathing for a second as he followed the movement with his eyes.   
  
Cora.  
  
He was already regretting this idea. So, so much. He hated Danny, hated him so much. Him and his dumb ideas.  
  
Stiles stepped aside to wait for his drinks. He stood there watching Cora's every move, he was torn between wanting her to see him standing there and running back to  the table that Danny sat at just so he could hide his face.  
  
He was almost in the clear until—  
  
"Stiles, hey!" She beamed. Brown eyes wide in surprise. She giggled, "funny seeing you here, you on vacation or something?"  
  
Stiles felt his cheeks warm and instantly bowed his head and rubbed the back of his neck, giving her a nervous laugh. "No. I, uh, i'm actually going to NYU. Just got in town yesterday."  
  
Caitlyn slide his finished drinks toward him on the counter. He smiled up at Cora, "well, we should get together sometime and catch up!" He started backing away from the counter to go to his table.  
  
Why did he just say that? God he was the fucking king of not thinking before he speaks.   
  
"Yeah," she agreed before looking up at the clock. "Actually, My shift ends in about 5 minutes."  
  
"Awesome." Stiles replied.

  
\---

  
"So does Derek know you're here?" Cora asked as she sat down, sitting her drink that she had just bought seconds ago.  
  
Stiles huffed a laugh, "not exactly, I haven't told him i'm in town yet. I haven't talked to him since we left Mexico and if he changed his number, I don't have it. Scott told me to get in touch with him after I got down here, but I just—" he cut off with a sigh.  
  
"Don't wanna open an old wound." She stated softly.  
  
He nodded, "yeah."  
  
He wants to ask if Derek talks about him like he talks about Derek. Wants to know if he just slips his way into everyday conversations. Wants to know if Derek thinks about him. _She's right there, just ask._ But he can't.  
  
"So, what about you?" He asked, completely ready to get his mind off Derek, even if it's just for a second. "How've you been? I haven't talked to you since the Alpha pack was in Beacon Hills." Or at least he think's it's been that long, because didn't she run off to South America for awhile?  
  
"Good, i've been good." She explains, then looks over at Danny with a confused look, "weren't you the kid who dated one of the twins?" Stiles grimaced looking at him too, he didn't know how he was doing with that whole situation because he never asked, is he still hurting over that? Did he put it behind him?  
  
Danny just smiled at her question and nodded, like it didn't even hurt to be asked questions about your dead ex boyfriend. "I did, yes."   
  
Stiles wondered how he did it because it hurt him immensely to talk about Derek just for a minute and he's not even dead.  
  
She nodded and turned her attention back to Stiles. "So, I can't believe how much you've grown since I last saw you— both of you." She glanced over at Danny.   
  
Stiles blushed and rolled his eyes as he hid behind his hand, cheeks flushing a light shade of pink. "Yeah," he started. "It's _crazy_   what two years will do to you."  
  
"I'm serious." She slapped his arm. "You were scrawny last time I saw you, now you're— grown." She finished in amazement.  
  
They talked for a little while longer before the guys had to get back. Danny was supposed to meet up with someone a few hours later.   
  
They said goodbye and Stiles headed out to the car.  
  
"I gotta pee, man." Danny told him as he stopped in the doorway.  
  
"Hurry up!" Stiles whined.  
  
Danny was quick to run back inside. "Hey, Cora!" He called, coming to a stop next to her.   
  
She cocked her head to the side and looked at him in confusion. "I thought you were leaving?" She asked, her brow furrowed.  
  
"I am, I, just—" he let out a sigh. "I brought Stiles here in hopes to get in touch with Derek, but he didn't ask, provably because he thought it would be too forward." Cora nodded, the muscles in her face relaxing. "Could you maybe like give me an address or a phone number, or something to reach him?"   
  
"Oh. Totally, of course!" She grabbed a napkin from the counter and a pen from the cup by the register and scribbled down an address and a phone number for Derek. "So he *is* in New York for my brother?" She asked, looking up at Danny.  
  
"Yes, and he actually is attending NYU as well." He said as she handed him the napkin. "Thanks so much." He smiled and started for the door. "Oh! And if you could please don't tell your brother that Stiles is here."  
  
"My lips are sealed." She said, pretending to zip her mouth shut.   
  
He ran out the door quickly and jumped in the Jeep so he wouldn't keep Stiles waiting. When he got his belt on he slipped the napkin into his pocket so Stiles wouldn't suspect anything.   
  
"Wow, okay, so, mission failed!" Stiles groaned walking through the door and tossing his keys on the night stand. He flopped on his bed and buried his face in his pillows in despair.  
  
"Except," Danny held up a finger as he trailed in behind Stiles taking a seat on the end of his bed. "Mission accomplished." He beamed as he fished the napkin with Derek's number out of his pocket.  
  
Stiles jerked up and looked at him, flailing his arms and almost falling off the bed in the process. "You went back to get it didn't you?" Danny nodded with a smile. "You're the best wing man, ever!"  
  
Danny leaned over and handed it to him. "We— you," he cleared his throat. "Don't have to do this right away, we can wait a few days and I can stay behind if you want. Your relationship isn't my business."  
  
"Thanks." He said quietly, spinning the napkin in his hands. He glanced at it really quick  
  
It was two weeks before he pulled the napkin with Derek's number out of his night stand again. Classes started a few days ago and the only time he has to himself are Tuesdays and Friday afternoons, so he didn't really know how to fit talking to Derek into his schedule at all.  
  
He's had his address _and_ his phone number and he hasn't done anything with either of them. He was probably just hoping Cora would have opened her mouth about him being here.   
  
Ya know what? He's sick of waiting around for Derek to do something. He's gotten himself so worked up over him in the past few minutes that when he leaves the room, he slams the door a little harder than necessary making Danny nearly fall off his bed. He'd just walk the halls until he calmed down, he'd be able to study then.  
  
He'd pay Derek a visit after his last morning class. God he hoped he wasn't busy or anything, he really wants to get in his face.  
  
Stiles' classes started at 8 and went to 11:45. The Science and Medicine building was all the way across campus from his dorm. So it took him a few minutes to walk to his dorm with all his books he was carrying, plus the time it took to wait on the elevator. Then he had to drop his books off in his room, it was more like chucking his entire backpack throw the doorway and watching it slide across the floor before he close the door again. Before he got to his car it was a little past noon already.  
  
The drive from Campus to Derek's was only about ten minutes but since he parked the Jeep a few minutes up the block, the drive to his place shouldn't be that long.   
  
When he gets in the car, he punches the address into the GPS on his phone and he gets there with hardly any problem. He finally finds a place to park and turns the engine off.  
  
By the time he finds the right apartment building his heart is jack hammering against his rib cage. He better calm to the fuck down before he goes up there. Derek would probably smell the anxiety, fear and nervousness rolling off him in huge waves and would no doubt ask him to leave. So he paces the sidewalk for a few minutes trying to calm himself down. Taking deep breaths and giving himself little words of encouragement. He takes one last deep breath and turns toward the door, climbing the stairs before he can change his mind. There's an elevator to his left and a staircase to his right. He glances at the napkin again. Apartment 4. So if he climbs the stairs he'll have more time to think and to calm his nerves again. Stairs it is.  
  
_I can't believe i'm fucking doing this. This is crazy, he's probably forgotten all about me. Probably has a girlfriend by now— what the hell am I saying? I can do this. This is fucking happening. I don't give a shit if he doesn't want to see me. Because i'm already here and i'm not leave until we talk about this, dammit!_  
  
He really distracted himself because he hadn't realized he was  almost on the top floor. When he reached the final step, he froze in place. His stomach was in knots as hescanned the hallway for Derek's front door, spotting the black number 4 against the white door, he made his way toward it.  
  
Here goes nothing.  
  
He raised his fist to knock on the door. He was suddenly so attuned with his body. He  could hear his heart pounding away in his ears, the blood surging through his veins, felt the sweat on his hairline, he could hear his rapid breathing. He was pretty positive he was having a heart attack as he stood there waiting for the door to open.  
  
Then it happened and he felt like everything stopped. His breathing stopped,  he was absolutely sure his heart stopped for a second, but he could hear it still pounding in his ears so maybe it just skipped a few beats. His eyes were wide and he couldn't stop staring. He was like a deer in headlights just standing in Derek's door way motionless.   
  
"Close the door, Der! We're not cooling the outside!" Stiles heard a really familiar voice shout from inside. That's what pulled him from his thoughts.  
  
He smiled weakly up at the older man. "Hi, Derek..." He greeted, just above a whisper. He tried to not let his voice shake but that didn't work so well.  
  
"Sti-Stiles—" his deep voice cracked and he cleared his throat, still looking at the younger boy in utter confusion.  
  
He slid to the side and let Stiles into his apartment. God, it was so much nicer than his loft back in Beacon Hills. This one looked like a loft itself.  
  
The walls were pristine white and he actually had _furniture._ The hallway leading from the front door was lined with frosted, sliding glass on one side and it opened up into in a large sitting area with a flat screen mounted above the fireplace, a large beam separated it from the living room. Which had two huge bay windows over looking a garden of some kind. The furniture matched all to well, which could only mean Derek didn't decorate the place himself.    
  
The living room opened up to the kitchen. All white counter tops and cabinets lined against one wall and an island sat in the middle with a range top stove and a bar.  
  
It actually baffled Stiles to see Derek living in a pace like this, it was nothing compared to the other loft he had.  
  
Cora was the first to notice him from across the room, she sat up with a wide grin. Followed by that familiar head of blond curls bouncing, and turning to see what Cora's so giddy about, he looked back at her and and to do a double take once he realized who it was.  
  
Isaac gasped audibly and scrambled to his feet to run over to the dark haired boy to wrap him tightly in his arms.  "Stiles!" He gasped again.   
  
"Whoa!" Stiles yelped as he stumbled backward. He ran his fingers through Isaac's hair and hugged him back. "Hey, buddy."  
  
Isaac stood there scenting him for a good five minutes before pulling away, almost in tears. "How'd you get here? I missed you so much!" He told him.  
  
Stiles smiled and smoothed the hair out of the beta's face. "How'd _you_ get here? I thought you were in Paris with Chris?"  
  
Isaac shrugged, "I wanted to come live with Der and Cora."  
  
Stiles hummed and nodded.  
  
"I knew I smelled you!" Cora shouted from across the room. "Smelled you on the 3rd floor." She smiled. "I see you finally decided to show your face around here, now I don't have to keep hiding your big secret." She winked. "Come sit!" She ordered with a wave and Stiles was walking toward one of the purple chairs with Isaac following closely behind him. "So how's your classes?"  
  
Derek came around the corner and stopped, looking at his sister, waiting for her to look up. "What is he doing here?" He mouthed, lips pursed together tightly, eyebrows raised to his hairline.  
  
She nonchalantly shook her head and glared at him before Stiles or Isaac noticed.  
  
"Good, for the most part," he nodded. "But if I have to write my Polish name on one more paper—"  he gritted his teeth with his finger in the air. "Someone's gonna die."  
  
Derek froze where he was standing. His eyes darting from side to side. He furrowed his brows in confusion as he made his way closer to them. "Sorry, did I just hear something about _classes?_ Why are you even here, Stiles? Does The Sheriff know you're all the way across the country?" He asked.   
  
He totally ignored Derek's question and kept talking to Cora.  
  
"Did you even tell your professors that you want to be referred to as Stiles?" She asked.  
  
Stiles chuckled, "I would, but i'm pretty sure they don't even care to learn everyone's names."   
  
Every one of his classes had at least 100 something students, so the professors probably didn't care to learn anyone's name unless they stood out to them.  
  
"So I have another question, how come you haven't been in to get coffee lately?" She asked, glaring at him.  
  
Stiles laughed. "Danny bought a coffee machine for the days that we don't have time to swing by to buy a cup." He reassured her with a smile.  
  
"Damn coffee machine, always stealing my costumers." Cora growled, then broke into a fit of laughter.  
  
"Yeah, te—"  
  
"Stiles?" Derek mumbled softly, interrupting him.   
  
Stiles whipped his head to the left to see Derek standing there looking at him. "Yeah?"  
  
"Can I talk to you in the other room?" He asked. Stiles got up to follow him. This time  they cut through the sitting area and ended up standing in the middle of  what looked to be Derek's office.   
  
Derek shut the door behind him and turned to look at Stile, who seemed to be a little frightened. "I, uh," he started, voice shaky. He felt the tears pool at the corners of his eyes when they were walking in here a few seconds ago. Now he's just trying to keep them from rolling down his cheeks. He cleared his throat. "I can— i'm gonna—" he gestured to the window as his feet carried him to the door. He blinked as he passed Derek, figuring he wasn't going to be able to see the fat tears that started streaming down his face as he reached out to turn the door knob. Derek gripped his shoulder and spun him around and suddenly he was sobbing into Derek's chest. He had a death grip on the back of Derek's henley, like if he let go, he would leave him again.  
  
Derek held him close and kissed the top of his head and rubbed his back to calm him down as sobs continued to wrack the lithe body beneath him.  
  
"You left," Stiles sobbed into his shirt and if Derek were human he wouldn't have understood the boy. The only thing he could do was squeeze Stiles a little tighter.  
  
Derek was at a loss for words as he stood there in his office as the human boy, he cared so much about, sobbed vehemently into his chest.   
  
And if he were being honest, he'd say that in just a span of a few minutes, _this_ is the worst pain he's ever felt in his 22 years of life. Yeah, it brought him a tremendous amount of pain when his family died in the fire a few years back. But _this_ — _this_ hurts just as much as losing his entire family.  
  
As soon as Derek heard Stiles heart beat return to normal he pulled away slowly to look him over. His eyes darted around for a second before returning to his face. "You alright?" He whispered into Stiles' hair.  
  
Stiles exhaled loudly followed by yet another really shaky breath. He sniffled and shook his head. His lip trembled as he felt another wave of tears rush of him. He clutched on to Derek for support, then he was being pulled back in by familiar arms. "Why?" He sniffled. "Why'd you leave?" He asked pitifully.  
  
The Alpha rested his chin on Stiles head and held him tight, "I had to." He muttered.  
  
Stiles jerked his head away from Derek's chest and looked at him in complete disbelief as he wiped his running nose on the back of his hand. "You had to?" He hissed.   
  
"Yeah." Derek nodded.  
  
Stiles laughed and pushed him away and started pacing the room. "You had to leave for the same reason Cora had to leave to go to South America when the Alpha pack was after Scott?"  
  
He nodded again.  
  
"This is fucking ridiculous." Stiles mumbled under his breath as he shook his head. Another laugh erupted from his chest, as he turned around to look at Derek. "Is that all your family does it run from shit?" He waited for an answer, but got nothing. "Oh! Cora got hurt by the Alpha pack! Well, better ship her off to South America—" he thinks he's impersonating Derek pretty good. "Holy shit, I just got shanked by a berserker, I think i'll just sit here and play dead while everyone else puts their lives on the line. Oops, never mind!" He was yelling in Derek's face now. Derek has never seen him so full of rage before. His face is completely red, veins are protruding from his forehead and his neck. Derek hasn't seen him take a breath yet. "I was just evolving into an actual fucking werewolf! Time for me to move _clear_ across the country. Oh, yeah! Don't forget to say goodbye to Stiles! It's not like he cares about you in the slightest!"  
  
Stiles was panting heavily now. He chest was burning and he felt light headed so he stumbled toward the couch.   
  
"Is that what you think?" Derek spit. He was getting loud now as well. "I did that to protect her, so they wouldn't find her! She almost died!" He explained. "She's the only family I have left. I sent her there for a reason."  
  
Stiles scoffed and shook his head once again. "You have Peter..." Stiles reminded softly.  
  
"Yeah? Well, it sure the hell doesn't feel like it." He snapped from across the room. It was quiet for a few minutes until Derek spoke again. "As for leaving like I did, it was for my own good." He explained. Stiles opened his mouth to speak but was stopped by Derek's finger shooting in the air. "And for all of yours as well. Evolving is very dangerous, especially on the night of the full moon. I only came here to keep everyone safe."  
  
"Okay..." Stiles mumbled. "I'm still confused as to what any of that has to do with not saying goodbye to me."  
  
"It has a lot to do with not saying goodbye to you, Stiles." Derek retorted, giving Stiles the same attitude he's giving Derek.  
  
Stiles chuckled and pinched the bridge of his nose, as he took a deep breath. "I gotta hear this." He muttered aloud to himself.  
  
Derek rolled his eyes. Stiles was really getting on his nerves this his whole sarcastic asshole thing he was currently doing. "It would've just made it harder for me to leave."  
  
"Yeah, how's that?" Stiles asked from couch.  
  
Derek made his way to his computer chair and took a seat, "because if I did, you would have pleaded me to stay. Or you would've came up with a plan to make me stay. I know you all to well, Stiles, so don't try to sit there and deny it."  
  
"You could've just just moved a few towns over." Stiles suggested.  
  
"You and I both know that that's not how it works... I could've put more innocent people in danger."  
  
Stiles clenched his jaw tightly, glaring at the werewolf sitting a few feet from him. "And locking yourself inside an abandon warehouse in New York is better?" Stiles hissed. He rose to his feet and quickly headed toward the door.  
  
Derek jumped to his feet and lunged across the floor and grabbed Stiles by his arm and pinned him against the door, his red eyes flashed in warning. "Where are you going? I'm not done talking about this." Derek growled, still hovering over Stiles, a thick, muscular arm on either side of his head.  
  
"I'm not one of your betas," Stiles jabbed at his chest. "You think flashing your little red Alpha eyes is gonna scare me, Derek?" He tried to wiggle his way out, and maybe duck under Derek's arm real quick and run out the door. But Derek was bigger than him and he really didn't feel like fucking with his stupid werewolf strength. "Get out of my way, Derek." He ordered slowly.  
  
Derek didn't move right away, he stood there for about 5 seconds looking at the boy, with his jaw clenched tightly and his brow furrowed in anger, like he was testing him. "Okay, fine." He finally sighed and raised his arms in surrender, taking a few steps back.   
  
Stiles swung the door open and stormed out and headed quickly down the narrow hallway to the front door, slamming it hard as he left. He hoped shit fell off the walls.  
  
He started toward the stairs but decided last minute to take the elevator, because it was safer to bawl your eyes out in an elevator than it is rushing down 4 flights of stairs.  
  
The doors closed and he started pacing at first, mumbling curses under is breath and carrying on about how much he hates Derek. He didn't start crying again until he got to the ground floor as he headed to the car. He even waited until he calmed before he pulled away. He watched The Notebook enough times with Lydia and the girls to know that crying and driving are very bad when put together.  
  
He cried walking across campus and stopped until he got to the elevator and cried all the way up to his floor. He wiped his eyes, cleared his throat, and sort of pulled himself together before walking to the room. He didn't want to alarm Danny.  
  
Thankfully Danny was in the bathroom when he walked in. He kicked off his shoes and fell face first onto his mattress. He only got out a few breaths before the tears started again.  
  
"Heeey Sti—" Danny greeted cheerfully as the bathroom door swung open, but cut himself off as soon as he saw Stiles on his bed. "Stiles?" He called again, softer this time as he walked across the floor.  
  
"Yeah?" He mumbled into his pillow, not wanting Danny to look at him under these circumstances.  
  
"How'd it go?" Stiles heard him ask, then felt the bed dip, followed by Danny rubbing circles in his back."  
  
He lifted his head and looked over his shoulder, but not enough for Danny see his face. "How do you think?" He sniffled.  
  
"Not so good, judging by the looks of it?" He said. "What happened?"   
  
"Well," this time Stiles sat up, not caring about the way he looked. "I stared him down for 10 minutes before he even let me in, then I talked to his sister for a few minutes— and Isaac's back from France, by the way, living with him— then he pulled me into his office and I started crying then we started yelling and he pinned me against the door then I stormed out of his apartment and now i'm back here. Still crying." He explained.  
  
Danny gave him a a sympathetic smile and placed a hand on his knee. "Working out your problems with another person is hard, and it takes time. You went to see him today, I bet it was a task just working up the courage to go see him, you've done that. Now this is the result." He gestured to Stiles and his current state of emotion, making Stiles crack a brief smile and let out a chuckle. "So take as much time as you need until you decide on seeing him again."  
  
"I don't know if I even want to see him again." Stiles admitted.  
  
Danny shook his head. "You're just saying that because you're mad. You don't really mean it."  
  
Stiles didn't reply, because deep down he knew it was true. He wants to see him again. He wanted to stay and talk to Isaac and Cora, but Derek just made him so mad that he had to get out of there as fast as he could. He'll probably go see him again in a few days.  
  
Right now, he's about to pass out. He's so exhausted from all the crying that he's done so far, that he doesn't even want to think about Derek, or the fact that he had nothing to say when Stiles broke into tears in his office.  
  
When he woke, he looked out the window and it was starting to get dark. Surely he hasn't been asleep that long. Danny was nowhere in sight. He must've been at a party or something.   
  
His stomach kept growling as he laid there staring at the ceiling, were you allowed having microwaves in your dorm? It probably was a safety hazard. Maybe he'll go down to the cafeteria an get something.    
  
He slipped on his shoes and grabbed his phone and his keys before heading out the door. He poked his head in the cafeteria and it looked way to crowded to sit there comfortably by himself so he headed outside toward his car. If he remembers correctly, Danny mentioned that Brew Nation had pretty kick ass pizza. He'll go there and bring back leftovers for Danny in case he comes home drunk.  
  
This past weekend had to be the _longest_ one in his life. Mainly because he thought that he'd work everything out with Derek the first time he went over to his apartment and he'd stay the night, they'd fuck and everything would go back to being sunshine and rainbows. But no. It's Derek Hale for fuck sake, nothing's ever easy with him anyway. He wasn't going to get his hopes up about getting fucked either, not with the way Derek's acting.  
  
So he tries again the following Friday. After he's done with his homework of course. But after his homework he played Call of Duty with Liam and Scott, then he fell asleep for a half hour. So it was nearly 5 when he got to Derek's apartment building. He took the elevator since he wasn't as nervous as last time, but he felt weird for showing up out of the blue. Again.  
  
Here he was, knocking on Derek's door, hoping someone other than Derek answers so he could bail if Derek was busy.   
  
He squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath, praying it wasn't Derek who opened the door. He could feel his heart beating in his throat and his hands were sweating, so he wiped his palms on his jeans and waited.  
  
"Stiles!" A cheerful voice greeted. He opened his eyes slowly and exhaled the breath he was holding. He gave the beta a little smirk. "Let me guess, you're here to see Derek?" He asked.  
  
"Yes," he asked hoarsely with a nod. It started him because he hadn't realized his throat was that dry, until he spoke.  
  
Isaac backed away from the door a few feet until he stopped at the hallway. "Der, you have a visitor!" He called as his voice echoed back to him.  
  
Derek was already stepping out of the bathroom, shoes echoing in the narrow hallway as they hit the hardwood floor. "Matt said he'd be he— oh!" He looked up, surprised to see Stiles standing in the door way. "Stiles, what are you doing here?" He asked as he continued to button up his black dress shirt.  
  
"Oh! I, i'm sor—" he trailed off He had no clue Derek was going somewhere. "I didn't realize you were—" he gestured to Derek's fancy outfit before he looked down at his shoes and rubbed the back of his neck out of embarrassment. "I'll, um... I'm just gonna— i'll go." he swallowed harshly around the lump starting to form in his throat and gestured behind him with his thumb, before turning on his heels and walking away from the door.  
  
Out of instinct Derek followed after him. "Stiles," he reached to grab his arm, but the boy yanked his arm from his grasp.

"I said i'll come back, Derek! It's fine!" He fumed, voice cracking as he continued to make his way to the end of the hall for the elevator.  
  
"Przemyslaw Krzysztof Stilinski," Derek warned sternly, with that deep gravely voice of his.  
  
Stiles stopped.  
  
"Please come inside with me." Derek replied softer than he had before.  
  
"But you're leaving..." Stiles states and Derek can hear the innocence in his voice.  
  
"Yeah, I am. I've got time." He turned and waved his hand for Stiles to follow him back into the apartment and he did reluctantly.   
  
This time instead of going into Derek's office, they walked back through the hallway and entered into a smaller tv room. That way if they got loud again Cora and Isaac would just ignore it.    
  
Derek shut the door behind them and looked at Stiles, who stood in the middle of the room, his eyes cast to the floor. "Stiles?"   
  
He maybe have been lost in his head at that moment because he didn't answer him right away. Derek snapped his fingers in the boys face. "Stiles?" He asked with the same gentleness as before. Stiles looked up at the werewolf in question, total innocence gracing his freckled face, pouty lips slightly parted, wide amber eyes. "Why are you here?" Derek remembered to keep his tone soft as not to start another argument with him.  
  
"I, uh, I came to apologize." He admitted.  
  
"Yeah?" Derek raised an eyebrow. "Apologize for what exactly?" He wasn't stupid, he know what Stiles is apologizing for, he just wants to hear him say it, to admit to his wrong doing.  
  
"For arguing with you and accusing you of running from your problems." He explained, barely above a whisper. He's not too sure a bout that last part, though. Derek does like to run from his problems. But Stiles doesn't want another argument, so he'll humor the Big Bad Alpha for a second.  
  
Derek nods in understanding. "I also want to apologize, because you're not the only one that's in the wrong here." He sighed briefly before speaking again. "I don't want to say that I should've never left, but I just want you to know that it was for your protection, and your friends." He paused and stole a glance from the boy,who was now sitting across from Derek on the edge of the coffee table. "And you're right, I should've said goodbye and i'm sorry I didn't. I just didn't want you to feel like I abandoned you."  
  
Stiles shrugged, "you kinda did."  
  
Derek pursed his lips together in thought. "You're right," he place a hand on the boys knee. "That didn't come out how I wanted it. I'm sorry. I didn't want you to feel—" he trailed off not knowing how to word this correctly without making Stiles feel bad.  
  
"You could've just said goodbye, reassured me that you'd be back soon. I could've dealt with that. It might have drove me crazy, like a few months back, but I can handle that, Derek. I'm a big boy." The corners of his mouth turn up briefly into a little smile, then they fall again. "But what hurts worse is not knowing— are you alive? Are you dead?" He fell quiet for a second like he was contemplating what to say next. "After you left— a few months after you left, there would be nights were I couldn't sleep because I didn't know if you were okay or not, maybe it was just my nerves, just going all crazy," he demonstrated, flailing his arms around his head. "But it got so to the point, where you were all that I would think about 24 hours a day. Also there was a brief period where I thought you were dead," he trailed off. "You could have called, though. Or texted me.  You _know_ i'm on Skype, but instead... You just left me in the dark."  
  
"I'm so sorry, Stiles. I'm so sorry about what you had to go through because of me, but I promise, I will never put you through something like that again." Derek explained.  
  
Derek's phone rang from his pocket, staring Stiles. He glanced at him for a minute and gestured out the door, Stiles nodded before Derek disappeared out the door.  
  
Derek reentered about two minutes later, slipping his phone back it his pocket. "Sorry about that, I had to cancel on dinner before Matt made his way over to this side of town for nothing."  
  
"Oh shit. I totally forgot you had plans. I can go—" he offered as he jumped up and grabbed for  the door.  
  
Derek was quick to grab the boys small wrist. "Stiles," he called, making him stop. He looked back at the werewolf and blinked.  
  
"It's okay, I cancelled because I figured we weren't done talking," he explained.  
  
"It seemed like it."   
  
"Well we can still talk about it if you want. Is there something else you wanted to say?" Derek asked as he realized he had yet let go of Stile's wrist.  
  
"I just wanted to apologize for my behavior the other night. It was completely uncalled for—"  
  
"No it wasn't." Derek interrupted, not even giving him a chance to finish what he wanted to say. Stiles ventured back toward the couch and took a seat. "You had every right to react the way you did as well as saying what you said."  
  
Stiles blushed in embarrassment. "Most of what I said, it was said out of anger. I really didn't mean it."  
  
Derek nodded his understand and it was like an apologetic nod, if that was even a thing. "There was something you said, right before you ran out, 'it's not like he cares about you in the slightest', what did you mean by that?"  
  
Stiles instantly turned a bright shade of pink and cover his face with his hand out of embarrassment. "You caught that?" He asked. Derek nodded.  
  
Stiles moved his hand away from his face and Derek grinned. He actually fucking grinned. The corners of his mouth turned up and Stiles saw his blinding white teeth. He wished he had had his phone out at the very moment because it was a very rare thing for Derek Hale and it was the most beautiful thing Stiles had ever seen. "Yeah, I caught that," he nodded. "Or should I add that to the list of 'Things Stiles Said He Doesn't Mean'?"  
  
Stiles giggles. He fucking _giggles_. Shaking his head. "No, no. Don't add it to that list because then it'd be wrong. You could add it to the list of 'Things Stiles Definitely Meant To Say'."  
  
"Oh, yeah?" Derek asked. "Is there anything else on this list?"   
  
"Uh, no, actually." He shook his head and fell quiet, getting serious again. "But all that other stuff I honestly didn't mean."  
  
"Like the fact that my 'little red Alpha eyes' didn't scare you?"  
  
Stiles swallowed harshly, "yeah," he answered breathlessly. "But they do. They scare me a lot."  
  
Derek slid to the edge of his chair and reached for Stiles' hand, squeezing it tightly. "You know I would never do anything to hurt you, Stiles. Ever. Even if I was really angry with you, like when you were over here the other day, when I had you pinned against the door— that was only meant to scare you. I would never lay my hands on you." He looked up, meeting the boy's gaze. "Unless you wanted me to."  
  
Stiles froze. "What'd you say?" He asked, brows furrowed in confusion.  
  
"I said I would never lay my hands on you." He repeated.  
  
"No, after that. You said 'unless you wanted me to'."   
  
That definitely wasn't a blush slowly making itself noticeable on Derek's face, because Derek doesn't do that, he frowns and glares and scowls and always looks so angry.  
  
Stiles is looking at him now and god he just wants to kiss that stupid look off his face, but he feels like he'd be crossing a few lines right now. They just got everything sorted put, there's no point in making everything go to shit again. Plus Stiles had four years to jump his bones if he wanted to.  
  
He wanted to pull Derek on to the couch with him, but he was afraid he wouldn't want to cuddle. So he just slid his fingers between Derek's and held his hand. Stiles looked up at him to see if he was okay with it and to his surprise, he didn't pull away.   
  
After a few long, comfortable minutes of silence, and Derek still holding his hand, "are you hungry? Would you like to stay for dinner? Cora's cooking." Derek explained.  
  
Stiles nodded and gave him a smile "It's the least I can do, since I made you cancel your dinner plans."  
  
Derek huffed a laugh and dismissed his comment with a wave. "No, it's alright, really. I'd rather spend time with you than go to some fucking dinner with people I can barely tolerate."  
  
Stiles grinned. "But you can barely tolerate me." He teased with a laugh and a wink.  
  
"Yeah, well— that's only 'cause you're part of my pack." Derek laughed and shoved him gently.  
  
Stiles went silent, his eyes going  wide, staring up at the werewolf.  "What?" He gulped. He must not have heard him right. He was part of Scott's pack.  
  
"What?" Derek repeated.  
  
"You said—" Stiles trailed off taking a breath.  
  
"No, I didn't, come on I'm starving." Derek instructed, pushing the boy out the door and into the hallway. He was saving that conversation for another day. Possibly a less stressful one.  
  
He got home around 8:30, he stayed at Derek's later than expected, figured the four of them might as well catch up with some pizza. Cora bought Brew Nation last October, and it's doing quite well so far. Isaac works there too. He said that they do a lot of fundraisers to help the community and they have open night on Tuesdays and   
sometimes band go there to play. He told Stiles he'd have to check it out sometime, he definitely will. As for Derek, he's working with some big shot architectural company, that has him building shit all over the city and sometimes all over the globe. But he stays close most of the time to take care of the pack.  
  
He can't sleep because the gears are turning in his head and he can't stop thinking about what Derek said.  
  
So he does the only thing he can think of, grabs his phone off the night stand and texts Scott: **Is it possible to be in two packs at once?**  
  
He knew he'd answer right away because it's still daylight over in California. So he lays there staring the ceiling, waiting for a reply.

 **From Scott: No. What makes you ask that?**  
  
**To Scott: IDK i was at Derek's today and we were talking and he said something about me being part of his pack??? Wth**  
  
**From Scott: So you guys worked out your problems huh?**  
  
**To Scott: Sure did. Can we please focus on my current problem?**  
  
**From Scott: and what would that be?**  
  
He could _hear_ the sarcasm through his friends text, and seriously? This was definitely not the time for joking. He was freaking out and Scott was probably fucking laughing.  
  
He tapped the phone button on Scott's contact and it started ringing and as soon as he answered Stiles could hear the laughter fading. "Hello?"  
  
"Seriously? You know _exactly_ what my problem is, Scott!" Stiles said.  
  
Scott winced. "Is that how you normally answer the phone? I'm not even good enough for a proper greeting." He told his friend.  
  
"Scott!" He didn't mean for to it to come out sounding so whine-y.  
  
"Okay." Scott cleared his throat. "Serious." He said more to himself than Stiles. "Derek."  
  
"I don't know what to do, man." He started pacing as soon as he got on the phone with Scott. "We were talking because I had a fucking meltdown at his house the other night and stormed out the door mad as hell and—"  
  
"What? A melt down? A-are you okay?" Scott asked, panicking. Stiles could hear it in his voice.  
  
"I'm fine, I just— missed him is all, and I was so angry and upset— you're throwing me off topic. I'll tell you about that another time— and then he had to cancel dinner because I showed up and we figured shit out and started teasing each other. I forget what I said, but his response was "it's only because you're part of my pack" and I just blanked because how can I be part of his fucking pack if he can't even stand to be around me for more than two goddamn seconds?" He panted.  
  
"Maybe he's just really good at hiding his feelings?" Scott asked.  
  
"He's good at hiding everything, Scott! His feelings, his emotions— especially his emotions! The only one he uses is anger and it pisses me off." Stiles explained to his friend. "Y'know? He grinned today for like a 10th of a second and it was so beautiful I've saw.   
  
"That's great." Scott breathed a sigh. "So maybe you can go back over to his place and talk more." He suggested. The line went quiet for a second.   
  
"Cora gave me his number the other day!" He realized. "I could text him. How can I be his mate anyway? I mean, i'm not a werewolf. Oh, God! Can I get pregnant?" He panicked, eyes wide. He knew Scott couldn't see him, thank God for that because he was freaking out.  
  
Scott kissed his teeth loudly, clearly offended by the other boy. "Man, I told you that wasn't a real thing."   
  
"Sorry." Stiles sandwiched his phone between his ear and shoulder and raised his hands in mock surrender. "What about imprinting? Y'know? Like that Twilight stuff?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.  
  
"Stiles!" Scott groaned loudly. "Just call him or something."  
  
"Yeah, okay. Got it! Give some love to the pack for me?"  
  
"Always, man. Please stay safe while you're there."  
  
Stiles didn't know if he meant while he was at Derek's or if he meant New York in general. Oh well. "I will man, love you."  
  
"You too."  
  
Scott really didn't help him at all besides give him a little pep talk. He could've texted Derek all on his own. But he was missing everyone back home.  
  
**To Derek: Hey, can I come by and talk to you later or something?**  
  
He hit send and collapsed onto his bed and waited for a response. After a few minutes his phone vibrated above his head and he grabbed it.  
  
**From Derek: Who's this?**  
  
"Jesus Christ, Hale." He sighed and scrubbed his face with his hand before replying.  
  
**To Derek: Stiles**  
  
**From Derek: Oh. Yeah, of course you can.**  
  
**To Derek: I figured I might as well tell you before I make any more surprise visits.**  
  
Derek probably hates that.  
  
**From Derek: You're fine. I actually don't mind.**  
  
**To Derek: Okay, if you say so.**  
  
**From Derek: See you soon :)**  
  
**To Derek: I actually was gonna head to sleep for a bit, maybe tomorrow if you're not busy?**  
  
**From Derek: Yeah, just stop by anytime**  
  
Stiles actually slept well into the next morning.  He glanced over at Danny's bed as soon as he slowly opened his eyes to see that his friend made it home at whatever bizarre time he made it home last night.  
  
Danny was normally awake before him, which was weird because even when Danny didn't have classes, he was up at the crack of dawn.  
  
Stiles knew for a fact Derek was up before the sun to go running in Central Park or some crazy shit like that or bench pressing something trying to keep his huge werewolf ass in shape.  
  
He found it rude to just show up at someone's house at the crack of dawn asking to be invited in. He'd wait until later in the morning to go.  
  
He made a pit stop at Brew Nation to get some coffee before heading to Derek's. He took his place in line and noticed it was Cora behind the register today. He was third in line and the guy currently ordering must've had quite an order, because Stiles had been standing there for a few minutes now.  
  
When it was finally his turn, Cora greeted him with a smile. "Morning Stilinski, what can I get for you?"  
  
"Hey Mini-Derek, i'll have a venti iced coffee with milk, sweetened, 2 percent and a venti of whatever your brother likes." He finished as he patted himself down for his wallet.  
  
"Oh?" She looked at him, with a suggestive grin. Her eyebrow raising to her hairline. "He's meeting you here?" She asked as she entered his order onto the computer and began making his drinks.  
  
"No, actually. I'm heading over to the apartment. I wanna talk to him about something." He clarified.  
  
She slid his drink toward him and started on Derek's. "Oh. Is this a continuation of last night's conversation?" She asked, glancing up at him, sliding the other cup toward him.  
  
"Yes." He explained. "I would do it over the phone, but it's personal and you know how your brother is.."  
  
Cora hummed and nodded in understanding.  
  
"Well, you have a good day, see you soon?" He asked, looking back at her as he head toward the door.  
  
"Of course."  
  
Stiles was in his Jeep again. He sat the cups in the holder on the floor and started the car and headed down the street toward Derek's, once he pulled out of the parking lot.  
  
He'd take the elevator this time, didn't want to take the chance of spilling the coffees all over himself. He waited against the back wall of the elevator until it came to a stop on Derek's floor. He got out and walked all the way to the other end of the hall to Derek's door.  
  
He stared at the door carefully, tilting his head in thought, as he tried to come up with a plan on how he was going to knock on the door with out putting the cups of coffee on the ground. Should he nudge the door with his foot? No. It would sound more like a bang and he didn't want to alarm the Alpha. So he just settled for sitting on of the cups on the carpeted floor, just long enough to get three raps on the door, then he picked it back up and waited.  
  
"One second!" He heard from the other side of the door, then a little movement and the sound of something hitting the hardwood floor and a loud "shit" followed by what sounded too much like a whimper.   
  
Stiles frowned as the door swung open. He looked up expecting to see Derek standing there with his chest puffed out. But instead his eyes traveled down an inch or two to see Derek grasping his foot in his hand, muttering a string of curses under his breath.   
  
"Everything alright?" Stiles asked, brow furrowed.   
  
"Yeah. Just, uh—"Derek moved to the side and let Stiles enter as he leaned down once more to pick up the tall vase that held a few umbrellas. "Knocked over the umbrellas. Smashed my fucking foot on this goddamn behemoth of a vase."He muttered.   
  
"Y'alright?" Stiles asked as he winced in sympathy for the other man. "That had to hurt. You're toes didn't get chopped off by the ends of all the umbrellas did they?" He asked looking down at Derek's feet. "Three.. Six.. Nine.. Ten. Nope. All toes accounted for." He beamed up at Derek who was now leaning on the bookcase on the adjacent wall.  
  
Stiles looked down and noticed his still had Derek's coffee. "Oh!" He extended his arm, handing him the cup. "I brought you this. Cora made it, Dark Roast." He explained as he watched Derek taste it, his tongue darting out just slightly to catch the remnants of a coffee mustache on his upper lip. Stiles would have gladly volunteered to kiss it off his face.   
  
Derek's eyebrow shot up in surprise as he hummed and pulled the cup away from his face as if he were inspecting it. "Wow, that's amazing."he walked toward the sitting area and looked up at Stiles as he crossed the open floor. "So what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" The werewolf asked as he took a seat in one of the purple chairs across from the love seat Stiles took a seat in.  
  
"Yesterday, actually." Stiles specified.  
  
"Yeah?" Derek asked looking at him. "What about it?"  
  
"When we were joking around, the mood lightened up a bit you were like 'that's because you're part of my pack.' What did you mean?" He asked sitting on the edge of his seat. He was too nervous to sit back comfortably.  
  
Derek sighed and ran a hand over his dark, scruffy beard and closed his eyes as if he were collecting his thoughts. "I, uh, was just joking." He laughed nervously.  
  
Stiles just scoffed. He didn't believe it for a second. "You're Derek Hale— when have you ever been able to make a joke?" He asked. He didn't give him time to answer. "And if that were a joke, that'd be a fucking terrible one because it's not even a little funny." Stiles added as an afterthought. "And if you're lying to me i'm gonna kick your ass up and down this fucking apartment, dude. I swear to God." Stiles stated as he jabbed his long, thin fingers into the werewolf's broad chest.  
  
It was an empty threat. Derek knew that much, but he still had to tell Stiles and him being a part of his pack.  
  
Fuck it. Better late than never, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what'd you think? comments and kudos are very much appreciated!
> 
> i've never written anything of the ABO verity before so i really don't know much about it. so if you have any knowledge of it at all, please do not hesitate to tell me.
> 
> as always you can find my Tumblr [here](http://okaylittlebrother.tumblr.com).
> 
>  
> 
> **i'm currently working on chapter 3 as of a few days ago. just a reminder, the chapters are going to be longer than the first. so that's why it's taking so long and i'm trying to incorporate some smut in here somehow and i'm completely bombing it because smut is definitely not my strong suite. wish me luck that doesn't turn out horribly**


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So for this next chapter, I toned down the angst. A LOT. but there's still a little toward the end. I also threw in some Danny/Isaac for the people who asked. Also someone sent Kara an [ask](http://grandpahale.tumblr.com/post/127118219193/oh-my-god-i-saw-this-post-on-my-dash-last-night) about [this post](http://grandpahale.tumblr.com/post/127035674523/stonedsterek-ok-but-stiles-leaving-bh-bc) on Tumblr. So I guess this is how she see's it, because Stiles is her "small little cinnamon roll" and he needs to be protected at all costs. Even if it's from his own friends. But that's what Derek's for, right?.
> 
> Just a small reminder that this entire thing is going to be unbeta'd. so any mistakes are entirely my fault.
> 
> Alright, you may proceed!

Derek told him _everything_ as the two of them sat there. He elaborated more on why he left and how he felt for the boy sitting across from him. He explained to him once again his mom and his sister had done the same thing when they evolved as well.   
  
Stiles would stop him periodically to ask questions and Derek would give him answers. Once again they were back on the subject of Stiles being a part of Derek's pack and Derek just let a sigh pass his lips.  
  
"But i'm _human_ , how is that even possible? I thought werewolves could only mate with other werewolves?"  
  
Derek had to laugh because he wasn't serious. Was he? He rested his hand on Stiles' shoulder and stared into those amber eyes he knew all to well. "Stiles." He paused. "How many times have we told you? That's not real. The mating thing isn't real."  
  
"O-kay." He replied with a scoff and a roll of his eyes. "Then how am I a part of your pack?" He questioned.  
  
"God!" Derek groaned into his hands. He let out a heavy sigh and ruffled his hair out of frustration. He hated being so emotionally constipated. He could tell Stiles he liked him. It wasn't a lie in the slightest. It was more than like though, but he didn't want to use the word love because it might freak him out. "I like you, okay!" He all but yelled. He didn't mean to though. It startled the boy and made him look up at Derek with wide eyes. Derek continued. "I like you." His tone was softer now. "And when i'm around you my wolf— he just goes crazy." Derek admits.   
  
Normally he would feel stupid for even admitting this to anyone else. But it's Stiles, he deserves to know how Derek feels about him and it felt good for Derek to get it out in the open.  
  
Stiles gaped at him, eyes wide. He's pretty sure his heart skipped a beat or two. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I'm sorry," he apologized as he pretended to clean out his ear. "What'd you say? I don't think I heard that correctly."  
  
Derek just let out an exasperated sigh and groaned lowly. "I. Like. You." He punctuated slowly as he clenched his jaw tightly.  
  
Stiles blinked at him for a minute and then grinned real wide. "Are you fucking with me, Hale? "  
  
"Why would I be fucking with you, Stiles?" Derek asked seriously.   
  
Stiles' grin fell as he realized that Derek hadn't let his expression falter.   
  
"You're serious?" Stiles asked, brows raised to his hairline, eyes wide.  
  
Derek nodded. "'Fraid so."   
  
"How long?" Stiles settled back on the couch, tone serious this time.  
  
Derek racked his brain, trying to remember. "A little while after the Nogitsune." He explained after a minute.  
  
Stiles shook his head in awe. His eyes have somehow gotten wider at hearing the wolf's confession. That can't be. "That was two years ago, Derek..."  
  
"And?" It had came out harsher than intended.  
  
Stiles looked at him. Trying to wrap his brain around this.   
  
Derek's had a thing for him for two years. Derek. Derek Hale. The broody, scowl-y, surprisingly good looking, Alpha werewolf, who shows no emotion, whatsoever, the werewolf that made it clear that the boy gets on his every nerve. Derek Hale has had a thing for Stiles; this mole spattered, obnoxious, overly spastic, teen aged boy for two years? _Two years?_  
  
That's really hard to believe.  
  
Why would someone like Derek Hale have a thing for a kid like Stiles? It made no sense at all.  
  
"How?" He asked. "And most importantly; _why?"_ Stiles had to know, because he didn't understand any of it in the slightest.  
  
"Just... Seeing you like that... It just.... God, it was so bad, sometimes when you came to, you looked so frightened, and after when you thought than it was your fault that all those people died... I just wanted to tell you that it'd be okay. That none of it was your fault."  
  
"But it was my fault, I—" Stiles replied.  
  
"No, we're not going to talk about that right now." Derek cut him off. Stiles nodded.  
  
"I don't want anything to happen to you, that's why I am the way I am around you.." He said, not even feeling guilty letting another confession pass his lips.  
  
"So your way of  _'keeping me safe',"_  he raised his hands for necessary air quotes. "Is by threatening me?" Stiles asked, genuinely curious.  
  
Derek shrugged, "more like, helping you make smarter decisions."  
  
Stiles guessed that was a little harsh. He remembered the time when Peter was going to attack him, Derek pushed him away and told him to run and all the times that Derek put him in charge of the least dangerous part of a mission. Like that time when Scott and Derek went to the bank to rescue Erica and Boyd (and Cora) from the vault, Derek didn't want him to get hurt so he told him to stay back with Peter. Even though Stiles begged and pleaded Derek to let him tag along because he thought Peter was creepy and he didn't want to be alone with him in Derek's loft. All of that was for Stiles' own good.  
  
"I make smart decisions on my own..." Stiles said defensively.  
  
"Eating a small order of curly fries instead of a large, is not a smart decision." Derek stated.   
  
Stiles huffed at that and crossed his arms. "It is too!" He pouted.  
  
"Driving clear across the country wasn't a smart decision." Derek clarified.  
  
That got Stiles' attention because now he was sitting up. "Now _that_ was a smart decision," he said pointing a finger at the Alpha. "I got accepted to NYU, you know that—"  
  
"But I didn't before, because you never told me."  
  
That was true. That was all on Stiles because he was too stubborn at the time to confront Derek for just up and leaving him like he did.  
  
"Well, if you would've said goodbye like a normal person, we would've exchanged number and texted and you would've known that." Stiles told him matter of factly.  
  
Derek didn't have anything to say about that, so he just stayed quiet.  
  
Stiles chuckled. "Exactly!" He said and gave the werewolf a wink.  
  
It was quiet for awhile and Stiles looked over at Derek, "so, is that it?"  
  
Derek hadn't really said much of anything other than admitting to Stiles that he liked him, but that was it.  
  
Before Derek could give him and answer Stiles spoke again, "is it even possible to switch packs? If i'm your mate or whatever I don't want Scott getting mad at me for leaving his pack."  
  
"I'm sure Scott is aware that in most wolf packs, a wolf that is low in the hierarchy, can leave to find a mate."  
  
Stiles nodded and lazily pointed a finger at Derek. "But you're not lo—"  
  
"Yes, i'm also acutely aware of that. I said I like you... So you must think it counts for something, right?" Derek laughed.  
  
Stiles just stared at him in utter confusion, "d-does it not c-count for anything?"  
  
"That depends..." Derek smiled over at the boy.  
  
"Depends on what?" Stiles asked.  
  
"How you feel about me, of course." He explained. "The feeling's mutual, right?" He asked softly, his confidence unwavering.  
  
"Derek." Stiles said flatly as glared at him stupidly. "Are werewolves blind or something? Have you not seen me when i'm around you?" He gaped. "I've had a thing for you ever since my Freshman year of high school." He confessed, trying to jog the man's memory. Still nothing. Stiles groaned and scrubbed his face with his hand. "That day in the woods when Scott and I were looking for his inhaler?" He asked impatiently while flailing his arms around.  
  
Stiles watched as Derek's eyes lit up in realization. "Really? That was such a long time ago." He stated.  
  
"Uh, yeah." Stiles chuckled. "You think?" He added sarcastically. "It's been almost six years, for fuck sake. I'd try to drop subtle hints, but your werewolf ass was too dumb to pick anything I was putting down."   
  
"Like what?" Derek asked in disbelief.   
  
"Like when your crazy ass ex girlfriend shot you with a bullet full of wolfsbane and you collapsed in front of my car? Scott told me to just leave you there. But I dragged your dying ass into the car, or that one time in the pool with the Kanima? Remember that?" He asked. "Yeah. Kept you afloat for two hours while you were paralyzed from the neck down in 8 feet of water. God, I wanted to just drop you and run, my arms were so tired. Or the time at Beacon Hills Memorial when the Alpha pack was after Ms. Blake, you were passed out in the elevator and I almost punched you? Or how about all the fucking research I've done for you? You never asked me for any of that. And I did it because you wanted it. Not because Scott wanted it, or because Lydia wanted it. I did it for _you."_ He said breathlessly. "But yeah," he shrugged. "It's not like the feeling's mutual or anything, I just did all that stuff for no reason."  
  
Stiles studied Derek's face for a second, like the gears were turning in his head, trying to recall all the events that Stiles had mentioned. He finally realized that Stiles did like him and it made him feel like shit instantly for treating him the way he did. He was just trying to help. Derek may have been too hard on him back then and he regretted it.  
  
"How did I not realize any of that?" He asked aloud, more to himself than Stiles.  
  
"You tell me." Stiles huffed a laugh. "I've been trying to figure it out for years."  
  
Stiles spent the rest of the day with Derek at his apartment, even though Derek didn't speak of the mate thing again  while the boy was in his presence.   
  
Stiles was mentally kicking himself trying to figure out a clever way to bring it up when the werewolf told him to drop the subject several times before. After the fourth time Stiles subtly mentioned the matter, Derek flashed his red eyes at him to let him know not to bring it up again. Fine. If he wanted to play it like that, he'll just go home and talk to his _other_ Alpha.  
  
Which is what he was currently doing.  He was sitting pretzel style at the head of his full sized bed, while Danny sat at the foot. They had Scott on speaker so Danny could talk to him as well.  
  
"Stiles," Scott sighed into the phone, like he sounded annoyed from explaining this to the human boy over and over. "Just because he said he liked you, doesn't mean that you guys are mates."  
  
_"Likes_ , Scott. Likes. It's not past tense. He's surprisingly had a thing for me for awhile now, so he says. He just never said anything about it." He explained into the phone as he glanced up at Danny, who looked back in return.  
  
"'Cause it's Derek, Stiles. I've never seen him get emotional. Ever."  
  
Stiles was lost in his thoughts, thinking about the mate thing. "What if we are mates?" He asked.  
  
"Does he want to be around you 24/7?" Scott answered his question with another question.  
  
"Uh...." Stiles' mouth hung open as he thought about it. "Well, last week when I first went there, I cried and he was very affectionate towards me. Like, holding me and kissing my head and stuff. And earlier he keep on lingering next to me. He sat beside me and cuddled while we watched The Hobbit. He *hates* those movies and he sat through the entire thing." Stiles explained.  
  
"I have no clue."  
  
"Scott!" It came out as a high pitched whine as he slammed his fists down on the mattress and pouted like a 5 year old when he didn't get his way. "I need help with this man!"  
  
"Well, i'll help tomorrow. The pack's over for movie night and i'm interfering with the movie and they're getting mad." Scott told him.  
  
Stiles could only sigh, he did understand how important pack movie night was. "Alright. Well, eat some popcorn for us kids in New York. Tell everyone we said what's up."   
  
"I will. I gotta go, Stiles." Scott told him.  
  
"Okay." Stiles ran a hand through his hair.  
  
"Make good choices." He ordered. "Danny, keep an eye on him."   
  
"Sure thing, man. See ya!"   
  
Stiles ended the call and dropped his head against the wall with a hard thud. He winced momentarily, but that was it. "Danny," he sighed as he cracked one eye open to look at the other boy sitting at the end of the bed.  "Werewolves are stupid." He stated grumpily. "Especially mine." He had no clue why he just called Derek *his*, because he wasn't. But Stiles wanted him to be. He wanted him to be so bad.  
  
"Tell you what," Danny started. "You text Derek and ask him if he's free on Tuesday, since you don't have class. I'll go with you to talk to him." He offered as he climb off the bed and made his way over to his own.  
  
"That is the worst idea ever!" Stiles explained as his eyes widened.  
  
"What? Why?" Danny shot back as he turned his head quickly to look at the other boy.  
  
"He's probably busy that day and I don't want to bother him or his sister. They're probably getting sick of me being at their place all the time." That made Stiles feel bad for some reason.  
  
"So, that's why text him to set something up." He explained as he climbed under the covers and settled himself in for the night. "And if you do, ask him if Isaac'll be there." Danny blushed.  
  
The comment made Stiles look up from his phone. He couldn't help the smirk that made it's way onto his face. "Isaac, huh?" He asked. "When did this happen?"  
  
Danny was blushing so hard that he practically covered his entire face with the blanket, save for his eyes. Stiles could see that the tips of his ears were red as well. "Awhile." He whispered, becoming shy all the sudden. "The first time you went to the coffee shop with me to talk to Cora, I seen him in there working, but i've kind of always had a thing for him. He's cute."  
  
"I'll see what I can accomplish." He smiled right back at him as he situated himself comfortably in his bed and turning off the bedside table lamp before grabbing his one once more.  
  
**To Derek: Hey, do you think if you're not busy this week maybe we can talk some more about this? I'm still just so confused about it all tbh**  
  
His phone vibrated against his stomach  and lit up moments later.  
  
**From Derek: When and where?**  
  
**To Derek: Park? Tomorrow 1:30?**  
  
**From Derek: Perfect. I'll meet you there**  
  
**To Derek: Ask Isaac if he wants to come to, Danny wants to see him**  
  
**From Derek: Of course**  
  
**To Derek: And Derek?**  
  
**From Derek: Yeah?**  
  
**To Derek: Please be open and honest with me**  
  
**From Derek: About what exactly?**  
  
**To Derek: Your feelings. Your emotions. Everything. Don't shut me out please?**  
  
**From Derek: Promise**  
  
Stiles takes that as his queue to lock his phone and put it on the nightstand. He really hopes Derek stays true to his word and opens up to him a little more. If they were going to be a thing (he hoped) he needed to learn more about all this werewolf shit and most importantly Derek's feelings about the matter.  
  
The guy kissed his head for fuck sake, and held him tightly as he cried in his office the other day. Stiles knew Derek liked him more than he lead on, because no straight guy would ever admit to doing such homosexual things.  
  
\---  
  
Stiles was ironically up before the sun was, which only happened during school and during the summer when he'd pull all nighters with Scott playing Battlefield 4 or Call of Duty and never go to sleep at all.   
  
He didn't know why he was up this early. He didn't have class today.   
  
Maybe it was his nerves? He didn't know how Derek's going to handle talking about his feelings. Maybe he'd shut Stiles like he did everyone else, or maybe he'd open up to him, who knows? Maybe some good could come from this.  
  
He laid there for a little while wondering if he should research all this wolf mating and bonding bullshit, but what Derek couldn't explain maybe Scott could.   
  
He ended up falling back asleep for another few hours. By the time he woke up again, Danny was nowhere to be found. He texted him and asked where he ran off to, turns out, he's hanging out at Brew Nation probably sitting at a corner table with his laptop watching Isaac bus tables.  
  
Poor kid couldn't have waited three more hours for all of them to hang out, could he?  
  
That's how he found himself sitting in Central Park at 1:45, texting Derek asking him if he and Danny could sleep over.  
  
**From Derek: What? Like a slumber party?**  
  
**To Derek: OMG! Yes! Like a slumber party! Or are you too manly for that sort of thing?**  
  
**From Derek: Yes I am. I'm here by the way, where are you?**  
  
**To Derek: Sitting on a bench next to a huge fucking rock.**  
  
**From Derek: See you :)**  
  
Stiles looked up and glanced around quickly to find Derek, he did a double take and scanned across the huge field once more. Finally spotting the man wearing a wife beater and a pair of gym shorts— fuck him! He hoped Derek didn't think he was going for a run with him, because Stiles didn't run. Unless it was from some type of supernatural creature that wanted him dead He looked down and scanned his outfit. Skinny jeans are _so_ not jogger friendly.  
  
As Derek approached Stiles further, he could see that the man had just in fact finished some type of workout, because beads of sweat were formed on his hairline and he was chugging that water like his life depended on it and if the panting that was doing when he came to a sudden stop in front of Stiles was any indication.  
  
Stiles swallowed as he looked up at Derek, taking in the sight before him. He was glistening with sweat and and that wife beater hadn't done a very good job on concealing the man's pert nipples. It was also hugging his torso in all the right places and he swore his mouth started watering in that very moment. His eyes trailed down to the red shorts Derek was wearing, he could see the outline of his cock perfectly through the fabric. If there weren't so many people around he would drag him back into the woods and give him the greatest blo—  
  
"Stiles!" Derek snapped waved his big hands in the boys face.  
  
Stiles shook himself from his fantasy and gulped, still looking up at Derek. "What?"  
  
"You got a little— drool," he explained in a whisper, gesturing to his own mouth.  
  
Like always, being the spazz that he was, he made all these quick, frantic movements to stand up and wipe his mouth with the back of his hand before wiping it on his shirt.   
  
"So, you wanna talk about yesterday again?" Derek asked, as he began to walk leisurely down the concrete path.  
  
Stiles followed at the same pace next to him. "Well it's more explaining this time, I think."  He explained.  
  
Derek looked at him in confusion "explanations about what?"  
  
"All this wolf stuff."  
  
Derek closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, then exhaled before turning his gaze to the boy. "I don't want you to worry about any wolf stuff— alright?" He asked firmly, one of his thick eyebrows raised to his hairline. Stiles looked as if he were ready to say something, but Derek was quick to cut him off. "I know how you get with your research. There's no need to work yourself up over this. Wasting your time on stuff that you're probably already familiar with, my point is, I like you. You like me and that should be all that matters."  
  
"O-kay. Now that we've established that we're done with that topic, let's move on to the next— feelings." He explained dramatically, fluttering his eyes at the wolf. "But," he said, holding up an index finger. "You don't have to get all angsty and sappy, I just want to to open up to me a little more, okay? That's all I want. Nothing too serious I hope?" He asked with a smirk, shifting his eyes over to the other man and nudging him playfully in the ribs.  
  
Derek sighed contently, "just tell me where to start." He stated softly.  
  
"Whoa!" Stiles gasped and unintentionally put his hand on Derek's chest, as if to stop him. "I can not believe this— the big bad, know it all Alpha is asking me— Stiles Stilinski, for guidance?" He asked with a breathy laugh.   
  
"Yes." Derek sort of whined in conformation. "Tell me where to start." He repeated himself again.  
  
Stiles nodded, "okay, this is good. Good. See? We're already making progress." Stiles explained. "Now, how do you feel about your sister?" He asked.  
  
"Whoa!" Derek deadpanned, eyebrow shooting up instantly. "Do not bring her into this!" He chuckled.  
  
"No, no, this is good, this is great!"  
  
"How is it great?" Derek asked. "The feelings I have for her, and the feelings I have for you— are _totally_ and _completely_ different, alright? I don't want to sleep with my fucking sister, Stiles. That's disgusting. I love her, I do. But not that much."  
  
"O-ka—" Stiles stopped, and blinked slowly like he was trying to process his thoughts, because you know how the kid is? His mouth works faster than his brain. He looked at Derek with wide amber eyes. The two of them stared at each other for a second as this stupid fucking grin spread across the kids face.  
  
"What?" Derek asked slightly annoyed because honestly his dumbness was interfering with Derek expressing his feelings and if Stiles doesn't hurry the fuck up and say what he's gonna say, Derek's going to lose all of his motivation for talking about this, and it'll probably never be brought up again.  
  
But, hey, it's Stiles. So maybe it will be brought up again— _multiple times._  
  
"Nothing, I just could have sworn you implied you wanted to sleep with me." He finally replies.  
  
Derek didn't say anything, he was to busy rolling his eyes and giving the younger a death glare.  
  
"At least you didn't say no, so that's fantastic actually."  
  
"Stiles." Derek warned.  
  
"So you do?" Stiles teased with a grin nudging at Derek's ribs.  
  
"Stiles!" Derek snapped.   
  
It startled the boy, and that's why he was flailing his arms like a dumbass. "Whoa! Okay. I'll stop." He said. "Alright now back to you, your feelings for her are totally different for the ones you have for me and blah blah blah, then what?"  
  
"I don't know," Derek shrugged. "It's just the small, dumb, annoying things you do that make me like you, y'know?"  
  
"Okay." Stiles nodded in understanding. "What are some of these small, annoying things?" He asked.  
  
Derek's cheeks warmed up at the question. He didn't mean to blush, it just happened. He smiled and looked down at his feet as the two of them walked side by side. "You scare easily, but that's quite alright because I think it's cute." Derek looks up and grins stroking his scruffy chin lost in thought. He hums then snaps his head forward to look at Stiles. "Oh! And your obsession with Batman is absolutely ridiculous." Derek thinks some more. "Throwing out everything he can possibly think of. "You're constantly under the hood of your Jeep, which I don't understand  why you just don't take it to the shop and get it fixed up."  
  
"Hey! Take that back! I love the Jeep as she is, flaws and all." Stiles said defensively.  
  
"And you also fidget when your really nervous. That one's kinda hard to miss because you turn into a complete spazz." He teased.  
  
Stiles blushed and rubbed the back of his neck casting his gaze toward the ground. "Thanks." He murmured sheepishly.    
  
Derek just smiled at him, “I don’t know what it is about you that makes me so—” He groaned in aggravation. Stiles didn’t understand why it was so hard to talk about your feelings for another person. If you like them, you like them and you shouldn’t be afraid to tell the person to their face. But Derek, Derek’s different. It may be because he’s so fucking angry all the damn time, that he has no more room in his body for other important emotions. Like _love_ or _lust._  
  
But that is why he was helping him with this issue in the first place because Stiles wants to see Derek use other emotions, Especially _love_ and _lust._ He wants to see the wolf use those emotions with him and not someone else.  
  
It was kind of selfish to want Derek to himself, because really, the two of them aren’t actually dating and he has no right to tell Derek who and who he can’t love. And if he does actually tell Derek that, then he’s like 102% sure that he’d be dead right now.  
  
"I'll have days where I'll be thinking of all the highly inappropriate things I want to do to you—" Stiles gasped softly at that. He’s positive Derek heard it with his stupid werewolf ears. Derek continued, unfazed by it. “Sometimes it’ll be things that aren’t sexual at all. I mean, just holding hands and waking up next you in the morning, just spending time with you,” He took a breath. “Everyone I’ve been with in the past, i’ve never wanted that. Sure I liked the sex, it was good. But i’ve never wanted any of the domestic stuff with them.”  
  
Stiles didn't know what to say after that. not after Derek confessed to wanting to have sex with him, he was too busy suppressing a grin and enjoy the sudden burst of happiness in his chest. Derek Hale thought about him sexually? Derek Hale thought about him sexually. Those exact words just came out of his mouth. Stiles couldn’t believe this. He tried really hard to contain his excitement, because the last time someone wanted to have sex with him, she mysteriously disappeared then he later found out that she was ritually sacrificed. When Stiles realized that someone was going around Beacon Hills killing virgins, he was half tempted to ask Derek to fuck him _multiple_ times just to make sure he was in the clear of being killed as well.  
  
“Wow.” Stiles finally opened his mouth and said something instead of the two of them just walking in complete awkward silence. “Are you saying all this because it’s been bottled up this entire time and you want to get it off your chest? Or —”  
  
“Because you asked.” Derek told him.  
“Yes, I might’ve asked but, I heard that sigh of relief, Derek and it sounded like you’ve had all that bottle up for awhile.”   
  
Derek just nodded.  
  
“So about that slumber party...” Stiles said nonchalantly.  
  
Derek groaned and rolled his eyes before looking over at the younger. “Stiles, you’re not a 12 year old girl. It’s not slumber party.”  
  
“then if it’s not a slumber party, what is it?” Stiles asked.  
  
“You’re sleeping over.” Derek groaned in annoyance.  
  
“A sleepover and a slumber party are basically the same thing, Derek. Slumber is another word for sleep, in case you didn’t know.” Stiles informed him.  
  
“Just because I told you about all the annoying stuff I like about you doesn’t give you a pass to further annoy me, shut up.”  
  
“Geez, if you’re going to be a Sourwolf I wouldn’t have asked you about all that stuff.”  
  
“Danny’s coming too,right?” Derek asked, changing the subject.  
  
Stiles flashed him a tight lipped smile. “Yes, is Cora gonna be home?”  
  
“Yeah, she get’s off work around 5-ish.” Derek stated.  
  
“Great!” Stiles squealed in excitement. “I would go to the store to get snacks and shit, but I don’t know where that’s at.”   
  
Derek smiled at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll tell Cora and Isaac to stop on the way home.”  
  
It was odd.  
  
Seeing Derek smile.  
  
Stiles was always so used to seeing him brute and scowl and his lips were always pressed in a such tight line. It was so rare that Derek smiled or laughed. But when he did— man, when he did, Stiles cherished it. That is, if he was fast enough to catch it happening. He’d keep his brown eyes locked on Derek’s face until that smile fell, because that was one of his favorite things about the werewolf. His smile. It was so blinding, his teeth were so radiant, it made Stiles feel like his heart would stop beating in that same moment, like a huge block of ice that would splinter into a million pieces if it ever beat again, and if by chance it did. He was certain Derek’s would pick it up, because a rapid beating heart is to hard to miss if you're a werewolf.  
  
Both of them parted way with promises of seeing each other at the Derek's slumber party— it _was_ a slumber party. The werewolf was just too grumpy and overcome with shame to admit he was having one.  
  
Stiles entered his shared room with a smile and he knew if he didn't turn around or something, Danny would ask him why he was smiling so big.   
  
"How'd it go with Isaac?" Stiles asked after hew composed himself.  
  
Danny shrugged and gave Stiles a smile. "It was alright. I sat in the booth the entire time while he worked. He'd come over occasionally to talk while he bussed tables. He's bought me coffees and shit all day. _And_ he ordered a pizza for lunch."  
  
Stiles was happy to see that the two of them were getting along.  
  
"You are aware that he's a werewolf, right?"  
  
Danny squinted at him, "are you trying to remind me of what I told Ethan when his brother got killed by one of those evil ass ninja looking things?" He asked.  
  
"They were called Oni, and yes, I might be."  
  
"Thank you so much for your concern, Stilinski, but does it look like we're still in Beacon Hills?" He asked. Stiles shook his head. "Exactly. Nothing's trying to kill us our or friends. I told Ethan 'for awhile', and that's what happened, because that was like two years ago and now i'm in college and I deserve nice things and if that nice thing just happens to be a bond haired, blue eyed werewolf, then I so totally deserve it because he's hot and kind and funny and looks like a puppy. So you— you just leave me in a corner booth with my nice thing and go fix your boyfriends emotional constipation issues."  
  
Stiles laughed at that. "He's not my boyfriend." He clarified.  
  
"Yet." Danny added.  
  
"Not yet, but he likes me!" Stiles shot back sarcastically. "He told me, then shared his feelings with me, which— is very hard if your name is Derek Hale." He explained.  
  
"Nice." Danny chuckled. "When should we be over there?"   
  
"He said around 5, he's gonna send Cora and Isaac to the store after work."  
  
"Great! Should we bring movies?" Danny asked, getting excited.  
  
"Absolutely!" Stiles agreed.  
  
"All of them?"  
  
"Duh!" Came Stiles, whose voice was now bouncing off the tile floor in the bathroom and echoing through their room.  
  
"Oh! Hey dude?" Danny called, digging through his shelf of movies.  
  
"Yeah?"   
  
"Don't forget your pillow when we leave! I remember you telling Scott that you can't sleep without it."  
  
"Thanks!"   
  
While the two of them waited for Cora and Isaac to get off work, they walked down to the cafeteria to get something to eat while they watched a movie or something to pass the time.  
  
They had both fell asleep for a short during the movie and woke up shortly before they had to be at Derek's.  
  
Stiles pulled his phone out  and shot Derek a quick text as they grabbed their bags and headed down to the car.  
  
**To Derek: Soooo ready for this slumber party Der!**  
  
**From Derek: Not a slumber party**  
  
**To Derek: Yes it is**  
  
**From Derek: No, it's not! Shut up**  
  
**To Derek: Geez, someone's a grouchy wolf :'(**  
  
**From Derek: Why the sad face??**  
  
Stiles waited until he got to Derek's to finish their conversation.  
  
They parked across the street a little bit down the block and made their way across the street to Derek's building. They took the elevator all the way up and practically ran down the hallway banging on Derek's door.  
  
"You are the most impatient person ever, Stiles! I swear!" Derek complained as he opened the door.  
  
"We can go if you're to grumpy to have a Slumber party, Sourwolf. You could have canceled." Stiles spun on his heals and began to walk away but he came to a stop when he felt that strong grip on his arm pull him back. He turned around to face Derek with a grin on his face.  
  
"I want you here." Derek said quietly as he lead the boy through the front door, Danny following behind him.  
  
"Ah!" Stiles smiled. "Is Derek Hale finally expressing his inner emotions?"  
  
Derek continued to lead them back to the smaller tv room so the could put their things in there. "No, I was just stating a fact."  
  
"Don't lie to me, Derek." Stiles teased.  
  
Danny smiled and waved at the werewolf as he passed him to enter the room. "Hi, Derek." He greeted him.  
  
Derek returned the smile. "Hey, Danny! I haven't seen you forever. How've you been?" He asked.  
  
"Good, good. Just trying to enjoy school." He told him as they made their way down the hall, one by one.   
  
"Says hi to Danny, but he's gotta be grumpy with me." Stiles mumbled under his breath, walking a few feet behind Derek.   
  
Derek whipped his head around to look passed his shoulder, "hm? Did you say something?"  
  
"Nope." Stiles chirped. "Nothing." He smiled. "Absolutely nothing." He whispered through clenched teeth.  
  
"Cora and Isaac on their way here?" Danny asked once they got into the living room's  
  
Derek nodded. "Yep." He smiled. "So what's this I hear about you and Isaac?"   
  
Danny blushed instantly. "We're just hanging out. But I like him..." Danny said slowly looking at Derek for approval. "I hope that's okay?"  
  
"Why would it not be? He's a big boy. Whoever he chooses to love isn't my business." Derek explained.  
  
Just then the door opened and Cora stumbled in carrying a bunch of bags, Stiles hurried over to help her.   
  
"Thanks."   
  
Isaac purposely brushed up against Danny as he past him to get to the kitchen. "Hey."  
  
"You need help with that?" Danny asked, and followed the Beta to the kitchen.   
  
Stiles sat the bags on the counter and started to unload them.   
  
"So, I got a bunch of chips because I couldn't choose." Cora said, starting to put away what Stiles is was pulling out of the bags.  
  
"Why'd you get so much stuff?" Derek asked.  
  
"We have company over numb nuts!" Cora told him. "Plus there's four grown ass men in the house and I bet money that everyone of you can eat enough to feed a small army."  
  
"Where's the lie?" Stiles asked with a mouth full of chips.  
  
"I rest my case." She gestured to Stiles as she kept her gaze on her brother. "I don't even know where you puts it all!" She explained. *"And,"* she said pulling something out of one of the bags. "I got Twister—"  
  
"Yes!" Stiles squealed as he gave Cora a high five.  
  
"We brought pizzas home from work."  
  
"Oh, God—" Danny moaned. "You guys have the best pizza on campus!"  
  
"Technically," Isaac spoke up. "We're not actually _on_ campus, we're down the block from campus."  
  
"Still. Best pizza ever!"   
  
"Did you guys rent any movies while you were out?" Derek asked.  
  
"Nope, Danny brought some of his." Isaac explained.  
  
"They're all scary." Danny added.  
  
"Nice." Cora said.  
  
Gathered back in the living room, all of them decided to wait until it was really dark out to watch a movie, so they played Twister to pass the time.  
  
Stiles and Cora disappeared into the kitchen to throw the pizza's in the oven, so at least one of them would be done by the time they started watching movies.  
  
They played one more round until Derek announced that there was 6 minutes left on the pizza, then he went over to the seating area to set up the PS4 so they could start a movie.   
  
Stiles ran past everyone and down the hallway and got changed into his sweats. He returned with his Marvel blanket, it's intended use was to hide under during the scary parts, also in case he got cold, but that's what Derek was for. Stiles was totally sure he wouldn't mind a bit.  
  
Isaac tossed Stiles his chips before he sat next to Danny on the floor in front of the couch, where Derek and Stiles were cuddled up together. Cora came in with a huge bag of all sorts of candy.  
  
"Son of a bitch," she said as she stopped at the edge of the rug looking back and forth between the two couples in front of her. "I'm a fifth fucking wheel, guys! Jesus Christ." She whined pitifully before she sat down to sulk.  
  
Danny craned his neck over to look at him. "It's okay, like we seriously give a shit." He gave her a reassuring smile.  
  
"Get that bag out of my face, Stilinski— before I toss it." Derek grimaced.  
  
"How dare you?" Stiles gasped loudly and clutched his bag of Salt and Vinegar chips to his chest. "These are the best chips ever made, why would you say something so awful?"   
  
"Why would you even want to eat something that awful?" Derek replied.  
  
Stiles leaned back to look at him a little better, then started to scoot away from him. "Don't talk to me for the rest of night." Stiles stated, raising his hand in Derek's face.  
  
Derek laughed and nodded. "Alright."   
  
Isaac grabbed the controller and started the movie and skipped through the previews until he got to the main menu.  
  
Stiles had just shoved some chips in his mouth when he noticed the eery music that was being played— _The Gallows_ — wait. Wasn't that— he blindly patted the couch to his right where Derek was sitting. He swallowed his chips, "no one fucking told me we were watching a scary movie, you assholes!" He scrambled back across the couch to his previous spot: closer to Derek.  
  
Derek just glanced down at him and chuckled. "What happened to 'don't talk to me for the rest of the night'?" He asked.  
  
"I saw the previews for this damn movie, Derek! I need you to protect me." He explained as he pulled his blanket up to his neck and tried to make himself even smaller against the Wolves side.  
  
"Stiles, it's just a movie." He tried comforting the boy.  
  
"I don't like scary movies," he mumbled into the man's bicep.  
  
"We don't have to wat—"  
  
"No!" He cut him off. "They want to, I'll tough it out." Stiles stated.  
  
The oven beeped telling them that the pizza was finally done. Stiles had put the time on 14 minutes, but he didn't know that Brew Nation pizza's had to cook for 45 minutes because they were so big.  
  
Cora jumped up and raced to the kitchen to get it.  
  
"Don't worry, we'll wait!" Stiles hollered sarcastically so Cora could hear him.  
  
Derek put his arm around Stiles and pressed his lips into his brown hair. "You sure you're alright with watching this? Your heart's pounding and you still smell scared." He observed.  
  
"That's because I am. I still want to watch it though, i'll be okay. Just let me stay right here."  
  
They ate their pizza and their snacks and watched the movie, Stiles even saw Derek jump a few times. Stiles— being the chicken he is— kept his face hidden almost the entire movie. He looked over at Cora a few minutes and she somehow managed to turn herself into a burrito because she was so cold. Isaac was passed out, snoring with his head in Danny's lap.  
  
Toward the middle of the second movie Stiles yawned and let his head fall against Derek's shoulder letting sleep take over.  
  
Derek, Cora and Danny all stayed awake long enough to watch one more movie. Stiles didn't know how long it had been since everyone went to sleep. He woke up to get a glass of water and it was pitch black. The only lights through out the loft was the clocks on the cable box and the stove.   
  
He padded to the kitchen and reached in the cabinet before going to the fridge to fill his glass up. He stood leaning against the counter as he finished his water, he gently placed it in the since and went back to the couch.   
  
He glanced at the clock once more before he closed his eyes. 1:17? Really? It was so early.  
  
He finally got back to sleep with in a few minutes, he slept alright for awhile until he was suddenly back at Beacon Hills Memorial talking to Melissa.  
  
  
_"We've been having problems with the electric on that floor, what did you say about hearing?" Melissa asked as she put the file back in the rack that was hanging on the wall._  
  
_"Auditory... It— it's also a, a Lydia thing too..." He explains, before heading down the hall to the elevator. He enters the elevator and sees his reflection in the doors as they close, and notices he's not alone. He stares at the odd women in the reflection of the doors, who is keeping her head down, not saying a word, she moves just then and he kind of recognizes her facial features; Claudia. The elevator doors open and she walks past him, her head down. He furrows his brow and exits the elevator following slowly behind her. They turn the corner and make their way up the flight of steps. They keep winding up the staircase until Stiles realizes she headed for the roof. Why is she going to the roof? He follows her out the door and realizes she's walking toward the edge, peering over looking at the ground below her._  
  
_"Mom? Mom, what are you doing?" He asked._  
  
_The door swings open again and he spins around and sees his dad passing him in a hurry to grab his mother from the edge of the roof before she hurts herself. "Claudia?" He called gently to get her attention as he walks over to Claudia standing on the platform, he reaches out to her to help her down._  
  
_"What are you doing up there?" He asked worriedly._  
  
_Claudia looks back at him and slowly steps toward him. "I couldn't stand to be in that room anymore. Not with him looking at me like that." Her voice was cracking, Stiles realized she was starting to become upset._  
  
_Claudia started climbing down off the platform. John was coming to her aid and reaching out a hand, making sure she didn't fall._  
  
_Stiles stood there mere feet from his parents watching them._  
  
_"Claudia..." John said, getting her attention once more._  
  
_"He's trying to hurt me. I don't care if you don't believe me, but he is. He's trying to kill me." She explains frantically, her voice getting louder as she continues._  
  
_John shakes his head,  "no, that's not true." He reassures her, trying to calm her down and pulls her into a hug after a minute of persuasion. "You have to remind yourself that it's the disease."_  
  
_Stiles stands there watch this, frozen, tears streaming down his face._  
  
_"Remember what the dementia does?" John asked as he pulls away to look at Claudia. "It gives you delusions," he continued. "It makes you think people are out to get you."_  
  
_"You don't see the way he looks at me." She states, voice breaking, tears forming in her eyes._  
  
_"He's 10 years old."_  
  
_"He's trying to kill me." She explains slowly as she glances over at Stiles, whose still watching the two of them talk._  
  
_Stiles immediately looks away and gasps softly trying to catch his breath as he wipes his nose with the back of his hand._  
  
_"Stop it. Stop looking at me!" Claudia tells her son. She somehow manages to maneuver her way out of John's grasp and stalks toward Stiles like a woman possessed. "Stop looking at me like that!" She orders._  
  
_Claudia tackles Stiles to the ground swinging her arms frantically, throwing punches and clawing at him as he screams for her to stop._  
  
_"Mom! Mom! No!" He yells and trashes on the ground, struggling to get her off of himself._  
  
"Mom, no!" He jolts straight up with a gasp. He's back in Derek's living room now. He looks around in a failed attempt to take in his surroundings— it's dark, still. He looks over at the clock, the only thing illuminated in the darkness. 2:37.  
  
He exhales a shaky sigh and stares at the ceiling. He scrubs a hand over his face in hopes that he can control his breathing, so it doesn't turn into a panic attack. He pulled his hand away from his face with a quickness. When had he started crying? He hadn't realized it until now.  
  
He sits up completely now, trying to curl into himself in the corner of the couch as a fresh wave of tears wash over him.  
  
He lets himself cry for a minute as he racks his brain trying to figure out why the hell he had this dream and why the hell it came from out of nowhere.  
  
When he couldn't come up with an answer, he laid down again and pulled his Marvel blanket closer to his chest.  
  
He laid there silently, waiting for himself to fall asleep again. But it never happened. What if he fell asleep and he had that same nightmare? He couldn't handle that. The thought just made him cry even more. It's like his tears had to make themselves known as they ran hotly down the side of his head and into his ears. Crying while you're laying down is the worst thing ever. Crying in general was just as bad, because the sun was coming up in a few hours and he was already tired as it was and crying just made him even more tired.  
  
He contemplated going into Derek's room for a minute. But decided against it because 1: it was too early in the morning. 2: he'd probably scare the shit out of the _sleeping werewolf_ and 3: he was too damn tired to even try and get killed.  
  
But his sleep addled brain doesn't like to listen. That's how he found himself standing in Derek bedroom doorway after a few minutes, debating on whether to softly call out his name to get his attention.  
  
He takes a deep breath and sniffles, "Der..." He didn't mean for it to come out as a whimper.  
  
Derek shoots straight up out of a deep sleep and looks toward the door at the boy, only seeing his silhouette because it was so dark.   
  
Stiles could see his eyes glow red for a brief moment. "Stiles?" Derek called out worriedly.  
  
"Derek..." He said again breathlessly as he got choked up once more.  
  
"What is it, what's the matter?" Derek was sitting almost on his knees now, just in case he'd have to go down the set of stairs to get to the terrified boy.  
  
Stiles' heart was hammering in his chest. His breathing was really fast and he smelled of all these different emotions— fear, anxiety, sadness, guilt— and they were assaulting Derek's sensitive nose. "I, uh, had a uh, a n-nightmare." He explained, his voiced quavered as he sniffled.  
  
Derek was familiar with Stiles having nightmares in the past, all because of the time him, Allison, and Scott saved their parents from the Nemeton by becoming surrogate sacrifices and basically dying to save the three of them. Before they went under Deaton explained that there would be a darkness always surrounding their heart, that they'd feel it for the rest of their lives, and that it would be permanent like a scar. Derek would say that Stiles got the worst of it because he was the one who was possessed by a dark spirit. He would never mention that to Scott though. He guessed after two years that that darkness would still be present.   
  
"Come up here." Derek invited softly.  
  
Stiles shuffled across the dark room, hoping he didn't run into anything on the way to the small staircase leading to Derek's bed.  
  
He sniffled and climbed the steps then crawled in bed next to Derek, burrowing under the covers making himself more comfortable, then Derek's arm was around him, pulling him close.   
  
"Wanna tell me what happened?" Derek whispered into his short brown hair.  
  
Stiles sniffled, "i'm scared, Der..." He whispered, taking a few shaky breaths. His voice was hoarse from crying. "I just wanna—" he began crying once more and buried his face in Derek's wife beater. "I'll tell you later, I promise." He said through the tears.  
  
Derek squeezed him a little closer to his body and began rubbing soothing circles into his back. "Shh, shh. I know.  It's okay. You're okay, Stiles. Just go to sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up."  
  
All Derek could do for him was hold him close and reassure him he wasn't leaving his side. Derek stayed awake until he was sure Stiles was fast asleep with out any further disturbances.   
  
\----  
  
Stiles slept peacefully throughout the night. Derek postponed his usual morning run because he told Stiles he'd be here whenever he decided to wake up. It could be in 20 minutes, it could be in 3 or 4 hours. However long it may take, he didn't want him walking up scared because Derek wasn't by his side.  
  
He supposed he could sleep in just this once.  
It was Saturday anyways, he didn't have any big meetings with anyone, nor did he have a project due right this very second.  
  
He turned on his side so his front was against Stiles back. He wrapped his arm around the boys waist and took in his scent before closing his eyes, letting sleep totally consume him once more.  
  
He woke up once again to soft giggling. It was Stiles, he quickly realized. Stiles turned in his embrace to face the grumpy looking, sleep ridden man next to him.  
  
"Morning, Sourwolf." He smiled and place a chaste kiss on Derek's nose before bursting into a fit of giggles again.  
  
"What's so funny?" He asked, his voice rough and full of sleep.  
  
"You were breathing on my neck for an hour and it tickled." Stiles smiled.  
  
Derek huffed laugh. "Why didn't you tell me to move?"   
  
Stiles cuddled closer to the Alpha and closed his eyes getting comfortable. "Because big, grumpy, Alpha werewolves are super comfy and they make you—" Stiles let out a big yawn. "So sleepy." He finished.  
  
Derek smiled. "Oh no you don't, Przemyslaw." Derek said poking him lightly in the side, making him squirm and flail his limbs on the bed.   
  
"First of all: i'm ticklish!" Stiles scrambled to sit on his knees pointing a firm finger in the Alpha's face. "Second: don't use my Polish name!"  
  
"Is that right, Krzysztof?" Derek asked slowly, totally ignoring his request, as he raised an eyebrow looking at him with a sly smile on his face.   
  
Stiles scooted back against the wall until Derek had him cornered, which was totally a bad idea, by the way. He raised his hands to block the man. "Derek, don't you fucking dare! I swear to Go—" Derek started tickling him everywhere. His sides, his neck, even behind his knee caps and the bottoms of his feet. No expanse of him was safe from the Alpha. Stiles let out a high pitch squeal and started laughing as he thrashed violently on the bed. He was fighting and failing to block the huge hands that were tickling him. Until Derek pulled his shirt up a little to reveal some of his beautiful pale skin. "Derek! Oh, God! No! Please!" Derek had the smaller man pinned down with his forearm. He looked up at him and just smiled before leaning down to blow a huge raspberry on Stiles' mole spattered stomach.   
  
Stiles kicked his legs and thrashed his head back and forth against the mattress and laughed. It's a wonder he hadn't kicked Derek by accident yet. Soon his laughs became breathless and he was panting harshly, so Derek decided he'd let him breathe.  
  
He pulled back, pulling himself up and away from the boy, settling on the other side of the bed. He watched as Stiles took a few breaths, but he was completely caught off guard when Stiles lunged toward his face.   
  
Before Derek knew it, he was flat on his back, hands pinned above his head and Stiles was straddling his waist.  
  
Stiles' big brown eyes were fixed on his as he just sat there. Derek waited a second for him to do something, but the only thing Derek could do was listen to his heartbeat hammering against his chest and  smell the arousal coming off the boy, as well as nervousness and fear.   
  
Stiles could've sworn he saw red in those eyes just now. He climbed off the wolf in a hurry and  nearly tripped down the steps "I gotta pee!" Was the last thing Derek heard before the door was slammed in Stiles' spastic wake.   
  
Derek laid there and furrowed his brow, wondering what the hell happened.  
  
Derek padded barefoot down the hallway to the bathroom. When he finished, he made his way to the kitchen and saw Stiles sitting at the island with a bowl of cereal.   
  
He could have walked a straight line to the fridge but instead, Derek walked up behind him and ran his fingers through his hair before he made his way around the island to stand in front of the fridge with the door wide open.  
  
"You passed out when you came in last night." Derek stated as he grabbed the Tropicana from the shelf and closed the door. He moved over a few inches to grab a glass from the cabinet.   
  
"I did?" Stiles asked around a mouthful of Cocoa Pebbles.  
  
"Yeah," Derek nodded. "Situated yourself right next to me and passed right out."  
  
Stiles continued shoveling cereal in his mouth without a reply.   
  
"What was all that about last night, anyway?" Derek asked sipping his orange juice.  
  
Stiles shrugged, "I don't know, I haven't really had any nightmares for awhile."  
  
"Do you remember what it was about?"  
  
"My mom." Stiles answered as he continued eating.   
  
Derek looked up at him with wide eyes, shocked to see that Stiles' only response was to continue eating. He had probably pushed the events of last night (before he ended up in Derek's room) so far back in his mind, because his mother was a touchy, emotional subject when brought up.  
  
Derek came back around the island, behind Stiles and wrapped his arms around his middle and kissed his head. "You wanna talk about it, i'm here, okay?"  
  
Stiles nodded. "Thanks."  
  
They remained in a comfortable silence for awhile as Stiles finished a second bowl of cereal. "So," he said ask he washed out his bowl and placed it in the dish drainer. "How come you fuckers left me in the living room by myself last night?"  
  
"I don't want to get punched in the face." Derek said defensively.  
  
"Aw, c'mon dude! That was _one time!_ And it was because you tried carrying me over your shoulder— so you deserved it!"  
  
"Excuses, excuses." Derek teased. "No one deserves that."   
  
"Especially with a face like this." Stiles said as he cupped Derek's scruffy face.   
  
Derek laughed and leaned into his touch.  
  
"Been back almost a month and I bet you haven't even kissed him yet." Danny said.  
  
Their heads turned in tandem to see Isaac and Danny standing in front of them.  
  
"I have too!" Stiles shot back, with his usual level of sass.  
  
"Mhmm." Isaac hummed in disbelief.  
  
He looked at Derek knowingly, with his wide brown eyes. He was going to kiss him to prove his point to the two of them, but what if Derek didn't want that? There was nothing special happening right this second, they were just sitting in the kitchen talking, with Stiles' hand on Derek's cheek. No important words were exchanged in the time since Derek walked into the kitchen a few minutes ago. He's pretty sure Derek didn't want this. If he kissed him, he'd probably get his ass kicked.  
  
Worth it.  
  
Stiles leaned down and locked lips with Derek, who he had stunned the hell out of and was currently tensed up under him. Stiles slid his hand to the back of Derek's neck and into his hair. It was a slow and lingering kind of kiss, y'know? The kind you give your significant other when they wake up in the morning, blinking slowly, looking at you like you're the best thing that they have ever woken up to.  
  
Derek's hand gripped Stiles' hip and pulled him closer. Stiles considered licking into his mouth for a second, but settled on taking Derek's bottom lip between his teeth, because going any deeper into the kiss, while your Beta and— whatever the hell Danny was to Isaac— stood in front of you, was really fucking awkward.  
  
So Stiles kissed him once more before slowly pulling away, eyes closed, slightly panting. His lips were swollen and he looked so beautiful, Derek wanted to pull him back in and make him fight for air.  
  
"That was _obviously_ your first kiss! Good God. I thought that was going to be a super chaste, prove-your-point kiss. But, nope. That was definitely a first kiss." Isaac explained. "And we witnessed it." He turn to look at Danny and raised his hand to him.  
  
They smiled and chattered at each other for a second before Danny turned back to Stiles. "That was beautiful and everything, but for the love Christ— keep it short and sweet. We were just joking." He explained.  
  
Danny pushed Isaac into the living room because that conversation was too awkward to finish.  
  
Alone with Derek now, Stiles was blushing because Derek could probably smell his arousal. "So," Stiles started, looking anywhere but at Derek. "Sorry about that..." He apologized sincerely. "You probably didn't want me t—" Stiles was cut off by a pair of lips. Derek's lips. That were suddenly on his again. When he realized what was happening, stiles kissed him back. Then Derek pulled back to look at him, though, still close enough to him that his breath softly hit his face.   
  
"That was so awesome!" Stiles panted softly, still gripping the front of Derek's wife beater with a shit eating grin on his face. "We're definitely gonna be doing a lot more of that in the very very near future." He decided.  
  
Derek could only chuckle and shake his head, because this was the kid that his heart and brain collectively decided to have feelings for.   
  
He couldn't argue with that.  
  
And neither could Stiles, apparently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What'd you guys think? Let me know down in the comments! 
> 
> as always, you can find me [here](http://okaylittlebrother.tumblr.com)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINALLY finished this chapter after being on hiatus for seven months. I finished it yesterday but I was at my sister's house and her internet was done at the time. Sorry about the wait!

Derek arrives on his floor and winces at the loud music that's being played by another resident, as he digs his keys out of his pocket. As he approached the door, he realized that the loud music had been coming from his apartment.  
  
That's weird. Cora wasn't supposed to be home til later tonight. Maybe it was Isaac.  
  
That's when he smelled him.  
  
Stiles.  
  
A smile broke out across his face as he unlocked the door and walked in. He winced once more as the loud music pierced his sensitive werewolf ears.  
  
He tossed his keys in the bowl by the door and toes off his shoes before making his way down the narrow hall.  
  
Stiles was dancing in the middle of Derek's living room. Derek was trying to make his way to the bathroom around the corner, but it could wait. This was entertaining and he wouldn't pass something like this up. He leaned with all his weight against the beam and smiled as he watched the younger man.  
  
Stiles arms are in the air and his hips are swaying to the beat of the song and he's singing along to at the top of his lungs and it's so off key but he doesn't care, because no one's here—or so he thinks— and he's enjoying himself and it makes something in Derek's chest burst as he watches him, because he can't remember the last time he saw him this happy and care free, but here he is— watching Stiles, as he dances in his boxers, in Derek's living room, singing what sounds to be like an over played pop song into Cora's hairbrush as the bright afternoon sun shone through the huge bay window and danced it's way across the younger man's beautiful alabaster skin.  
  
He stood there until the song was about over, laughing silently at Stiles' dance moves. "If you don't need anybody else to love you, where does that leave me?" Derek asked.  
  
Stiles jumped and gasped at the deep voice. "Jesus Christ, Derek! You gave me a fucking heart attack! How long have you been standing there?"  
  
"Not long enough." He admitted truthfully. "That was quite the show." He chuckled and met Stiles' eyes. "You ever considered taking dance lessons?" He asked jokingly.  
  
Stiles blushed deeply in embarrassment and looked around for something to hide his face in.  "You weren't supposed to see that." He muttered shyly.  
  
"I enjoyed it."  
  
"Thanks." Stiles said.  
  
Derek looked down and checked his phone for the time. "Why are you not in class?" He asked, sliding his phone back into his pocket.  
  
"Classes are over at 1:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays—"  
  
"So you decided to just let yourself in? So you can dance— naked — in my living room?" Derek asked with his eyebrows raised, gesturing to Stiles.  
  
"Okay, 1: I came over to study because everyone on my floor is crazy loud! 2: totally not naked, dude!" He explained snapping the waistband of his boxers briefs. "3: Cora said I could, because she told me where the spare key was. So bite me, Sourwolf."  
  
Derek made his way across the floor to Stiles sliding an arm around his waist and pulling him closer. It pulled a squeak from the younger man's throat as Derek grinned against his lips before kissing him. Once. Twice, then pulled away. He let his hand graze Stiles' nipple as he walked away before pinching it.  
  
His knees instantly went weak. "Derek!" He moaned loudly as a shudder ran through him. "Why'd you do that? You know I have really sensitive nipples!" He yelled across the loft, at Derek who was now in the kitchen.  
  
"Oops." He shrugged as he tossed a handful of Cheerios in his mouth. "I must've forgotten that."  
  
Stiles rolled his eyes, "mhm, sure." He said as he heads toward Derek in the kitchen.  
  
"Aren't you supposed to be studying?" Derek asked, raising his brow, stealing a glance at the boy as he reached into the box of cereal to grab a handful.  
  
"Should be."  
  
"Oh, no." Derek said, putting the cereal down. He turned, so him and Stiles were face to face.  "You came here to study, because your dorm was too loud, so you're going to study. You're not pulling that shit with me."  
  
"But De—"  
  
"Nope." Derek cut off. "Go."  
  
"I need some motivation." Stiles pouted.  
  
"I want to see you do better in college than you did in high school." Derek replied.  
  
"Sexy motivation, Derek..."  
  
Derek glared at him for a minute and let a sigh pass his lips. "Alright," he started. "How about this," he said folding his hands together and looking at the younger man. "If you don't move your scrawny ass to that office and start studying, I'm moving back to Beacon Hills and you can stay in New York with Danny."  
  
Stiles narrowed his gaze and squinted at Derek, "you wouldn't."  
  
"I so would," the wolf clarified. "Don't test me— go study!" He said pointing to the general direction of the office. "And put some damn clothes on! You're distracting me!" He ordered as Stiles walked away, sulking.  
  
Stiles spun on his heels and started walking toward Derek's office/bedroom. He stopped and turned to look at Derek, "I do have clothes on, for your information." He stated sarcastically.  "The only reason it's distracting for you is because you can't keep your eyes to yourself." He gave Derek a smirk and kept walking.  
  
Derek just growled at him as he now stood in the kitchen by himself.  
  
A few hours later Derek tapped on the door with his knuckle, then pushed the door open poking his head in the room, "hey." He greeted softly, getting the boy's attention.  
  
Stiles looked up at Derek from his textbook, the corners of his mouth turning up into a slight smile.  
  
"Just came to check on you." He stated. "How's it going?" Derek asked and pushed the door open so he had just enough room to lean against the door frame with his thick arms folded across his chest.  
  
"Please shoot me." Stiles whined, slumping back in his chair.  
  
"C'mon, it can't be _that_ bad."  
  
Stiles just blinks and holds up his notebook with a look of complete annoyance. "Would I have answered all 8 challenge questions at the end of the chapter _in explicit detail_ if it wasn't that bad?" He asked, ask Derek took the notebook out of his hands and skimmed through the pages quickly.  
  
"So if you did all the questions, what about the studying part?" Derek asked, handing the notebook back.  
  
"I studied all my definitions, I swear I did. I just can't remember most of them." Stiles explained.  
  
"Well," Derek said. "You could use a break, you've been in here for quite some time. C'mon, we'll watch TV or something." He said as he turned and waved at Stiles to follow him.  
  
Stiles jumped up and grabbed Derek's hand as he was lead into the smaller TV room.  
  
“Can we watch Star Trek: Into Darkness?” Stiles asked as he dove toward the couch.  
  
Derek took a seat next to him like a civilized adult, “No.” He said and Stiles instantly pushed out his bottom lip and started pouting. “I said _a break_ as in fifteen minutes. Not two hours.”  
  
“Actually two hours and eleven minutes,” Stiles corrected. “And fifteen minutes isn’t even a long enough time to finish an episode of your favorite TV show, Derek.” Stiles jabbed his index finger into Derek’s side.  
  
“Fine.” Derek huffed. “An hour.” He heard Stiles whisper a soft “yes”, he held up a finger and turned his head to look at the boy. “but that’s all you’re getting. Then it’s back to work. No falling asleep.” He said sternly. “If you fall asleep, i’m kicking your ass.”  
  
“Jeez.” Stiles muttered, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. “You're starting to sound like my dad.”  
  
So Stiles settled for watching and episode of Pysch. throughout the episode, Stiles would lean over and whisper something about how Timothy Omundson looks so much hotter now than he did a decade ago and that he thought older guys were much more better looking than guys his age.  
  
“Oh,” Derek huffed a laugh. “Is that why you’ve had a thing for me, for, oh, I don’t know, forever now?” He teased the younger. All Stiles could do was blush, because he wasn’t going to deny just how right Derek was.  
  
“Bet you’d like me better with a little gray hair.” Derek continued. “I already have the physique, the stubble…” Derek nudged him with his elbow. “Huh?” He whispered. “what do you think?”  
  
Stiles swallowed harshly around the growing lump in his throat as his face reddened even more from Derek’s teasing.  
  
“Maybe you even have a daddy kink.” Derek stated as he placed his large hand on Stiles’ right thigh, his voice had gotten significantly lower in just the few seconds that he paused, so that he could take in Stiles current state of embarrassment. Or was it arousal? Because he was starting to smell that as well.  
  
“Y-you know what?” Stiles asked, jumping up from his seat. “Maybe fifteen minutes was all I needed. I should get back to studying. I’ve hardly even finished.” He stammered nervously as he started to back out of the room. He bumped into the glass coffee table and almost toppled over as he tried and made his way to the door, which he also bumped into.  
  
Derek smiled smugly as he sat alone on the couch, just shaking his head and chuckling to himself at how fast Stiles get riled up over the smallest things.

\---  
  
Danny walked in and Isaac followed and the smell of arousal hit his nostrils. “Jesus fucking Christ!” Isaac gagged and he covered his nose. “It fucking stinks in here!”  
  
Danny turned around to look at him. “I don’t smell anything.” He said.  
  
“You should be glad, it smells fucking horrible.” Isaac whined.  
  
“Why does it smell like sex in here, Derek? Did you forget that other people live here too? You inconsiderate bastard.” Isaac asked as him and Danny entered the kitchen.  
  
“Sex?” Derek asked, looking up at the two of them. Then it hit him. “Oh! I was teasing Stiles ab--”  
  
“Slow your roll, Big Guy. Keep your fucking sexcapades to yourself.” The blond beta grimaced as he pinched the bridge of his nose.  
  
“It’s not like that.” Derek explained. “We didn’t fuck.”  
  
“Yet.” Danny whispered.  
  
“He’s in my room studying.” Derek sighed.  
  
“Wow! Class got out that late, huh?” Stiles asked Danny.  
  
Derek’s head snapped up and Danny and Isaac turned around in surprise. “Or at least he was studying…” Derek finished.  
  
“No, I just went to BN and wait for Isaac because he needed a ride.” Danny stated.  
  
Stiles made his way across the kitchen and took a seat at the island.  
  
“So,” Stiles said after a minute. “I was reading through my textbook because I was bored—”  
  
Derek cut him off with a glare. “You mean you were in there that whole time fucking around?” He asked.  
  
“No. Shut up and listen for a damn minute!” Stiles whined impatiently. “I was reading through my textbook because I was bored and frustrated out of my mind and did you know that 3 out of 5 kids in the classroom have ADHD?” He asked.  
  
Derek turned slightly to look at the boy over his shoulder to let him know that he had been listening.  
  
“Let me guess,” Danny started. “You’re one of the 3 out of 5?”  
  
Stiles ignored him and continued, “That’s 2 million kids in the United States *alone!* and it usually develops at an early age, some doctors say around preschool or elementary school. Parents think it’s their fault half the time but really it has to do with  neurobiology and genetics— so I guess I—”  
  
Stiles was so busy rambling that he had no clue that Derek was calling his name.  
  
“Stiles!” Derek called again, drying the plate he had in his hand with a dish towel.  
  
The younger stopped and looked up at him. “Yeah?” He asked dumbly, eyes wide, mouth slightly parted.  
  
“You’re doing that thing again, where you won’t shut up.” Derek said flatly.  
  
“He still does that?” Isaac whispered loudly.  
  
“All the time!” Derek and Danny replied in unison.

  
\---  
  
Stiles' test was Friday and he had been studying his ass off, not as much as he should have, though. He had started studying the week after everyone else. He tried to remain somewhere quiet at all times, usually the library or Derek's apartment worked just fine.  
  
There had been talk about a party that weekend too, at some frat house on campus. Stiles just wanted to chill at home with popcorn and a movie but Danny somehow persuaded him into going.  
  
They walked there from their dorm. It was only a block or 2 down the street. Stiles could hear the music from down on the corner. It hurt his ears. He exhaled and shoved his hands in his pockets.  
  
Danny clapped his hand on Stiles' shoulder with a grin. "Aw c'mon, man! Don't be like that. We're going to have fun." He told Stiles as they neared the front steps of the frat house.  
  
There were dollar beers all night, so Danny took it upon himself to drink a few before he came.  
  
"I can have fun watching Netflix." Stiles pouted.  
  
"I know, but no one else would come with me." Danny frowned.  
  
Right when they walked in the front door, the bass of the music pounded away in Stiles' ears making him wince a little. Danny leaned toward him and yelled something about finding a keg somewhere, but he couldn't really tell. He hardly gave a shit anyway.  
  
Stiles walked around for a few minutes, while Danny was getting their drinks. He saw a few people from his dorm, so the only thing he thought to do was go over and try to make small talk with them, so it wouldn't seem like he was too antisocial.  
  
"Dude! Shots are two bucks!" He heard over his shoulder. He turned and saw Danny with two Solo Cups. Stiles took one off his hands and immediately took a drink.  
  
He might as well enjoy himself, he worked hard this week and that test about killed him with all the fucking studying.  
  
"I only brought twenty bucks." Stiles told him.  
  
"Me too." Danny replied as he chugged his beer. "We'll use mine for beer, yours for shots.  
  
Stiles eyes widened as he looked at Danny in shock. "I can't drink ten beers, man! Let alone five shots!"  
  
"I bet you two large pizzas from Brew Nation that you _can_ drink ten beers and five shots!" Danny said.  
  
So it started with a few beers first, then a shot, then another beer, then a shot, he even convinced one guy to buy him a few more beers.  
  
He shotgunned a few beers with a few people to see who could get done the fastest. Stiles won. Twice.  
  
He saw a beer bong when he walked in and he set off to find it in the sea of people.  
  
He peered up and spotted it, two guys upstairs held the tube and the other guy poured the beer into it and two guys downstairs watched and chanted as someone chugged it.  
  
There were a few people cheering as they watched and Stiles sluggishly grabbed Danny and said that he wanted to try it.  
  
By the time the two of them left, walking home in a drunken haze, it was almost three in the morning.  
  
"I owe you two very large pizzas." Danny said sadly.  
  
Stiles laughed and threw his arm around Danny's shoulder as he staggered a little. "Yes!" He nodded. "You do! And I get cookies because i'm a mother fucking beer bong champ!" He grinned.  
  
"Yes you are!" Danny agreed. "Hey." Danny said after a minute, annoyingly tapping Stiles' shoulder. "Let see if Derek's home.." He suggested. "And Isaac. I miss Isaac." He sighed.  
  
"Aww!" Stiles whined in agreement. "They're probably all alone in that big apartment of theirs." Stiles frowned. "We should go visit!"  
  
Danny gasped, "what a great idea!"  
  
So they started walking toward Derek's. When they arrived there. They had quite the trouble getting through the door. Once in the lobby Stiles instantly bolted up the stairs and fell, scraping his arm against the stairs. But he was so damn hammered the two of them just laughed at it. Danny convinced Stiles that they should take the elevator because of all the buttons and lights it had.  
  
After their adventurous ride in the elevator they tumbled out once the arrived on Derek's floor. Stiles was dripping blood everywhere as they noisily walked to Derek's door.  
  
"Derek!" Stiles yelled, banging his fist on the door.  
  
"Stiles!" Danny giggled in a low voice. "We're going to wake up they neighbors!" Danny explained.  
  
"Fuck the neighbors! Der— open the door!" Stiles tried again.  
  
Stiles was just about to knock again when the door swung open to reveal a very sleepy Derek, who was currently very grumpy because his sleep was disturbed. "Stiles?" He yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.  
  
"Derek!" Stiles fell into his arms. "I missed you so much."  
  
Derek caught him before he hit the floor. He looked over him for a second. "A-are you guys...drunk?" He asked, looking at Stiles, then at Danny.  
  
It was obvious, by the stink of alcohol all over them. Stiles just grinned up at the alpha and nodded. "As skunks!" Stiles replied cheerfully. "Are you going to let us in?" He asked with puppy eyes.  
  
Derek pulled away from him and looked over him once more. "You're bleeding." He pointed out, voice full of worry. "Are you okay?" He asked, taking Stiles by the wrist and examining his forearm that was still dripping all over the hardwood floor.  
  
"Come on." Derek waved tiredly, "both of you. Let's get you cleaned up." Danny stepped inside and followed behind Stiles. "Danny have a seat on the couch." Derek instructed. Stiles started to follow his lead when he felt a large hand against his chest. "You— stay right there. You're not bleeding out on my couch."  
  
"Meanie head." Stiles whispered and stuck his tongue out at the Wolf as he walked down the hall to retrieve his beta.  
  
"Isaac." He called as he pushed the door open. He could barely make out Isaac's form in the dark room. "Isaac," he called again, a little louder this time making the beta stir.  
  
"Wha— huh?" He shot up, looking around the room for any potential threats. He settled when he saw his alpha. With a groan his head hit the pillow once again.  
  
"We have drunk visitors that require our assistance. Get up." Derek commanded grumpily.  
  
"They don't fucking drink..." Isaac pouted as Derek met him in the hall with the first aid kit.  
  
When Isaac walked out into the living room Danny's face lit up. "Isaac! I'm so happy to see you! I missed you so much!" He jumped up and ran over to hug the boy.  
  
"C'mon Evel Knievel,  into the kitchen we go." Derek said, guiding the drunk boy into the next room.  
  
Derek and Isaac sat the two drunk humans at the island as Isaac rounded the island to get them glasses of water.  
  
"Make them a sandwich, the bread will absorb whatever the fuck they were drinking." Derek told the beta. "And you—" he pointed to Stiles. "Tell me how you managed to do this." He said as he slowly helped the boy out of his hoodie.  
  
"I...slipped." He said slowly. "We got here, 'cause we missed you guys 'nd I was gonna  beat Danny 'pstairs. I couldn't let 'im win. But I tripped and boom! This happened!" He laughed.  
  
You're such a fucking klutz, Stiles." Derek stated as he cleaned Stiles' arm of excess blood.  
  
"Owie!" Stiles squeaked, pulling away from the older man. He frowned at him. "That hurt. You're so mean to me..." He choked.  
  
"God, you are fucking plastered. How much did you drink?" The question was rhetorical and he knew Stiles didn't have the capacity to answer. "I'm just trying to clean it up babe, it's alright it'll be done soon." He promised his drunk human.  
  
Isaac sat down a plate in front of both boys, along with a glass of water. He kissed Danny's forehead. "Eat up babe." He whispered.  
  
"Oh! Food!" Danny exclaimed happily.  
  
"Can I eat?" Stiles asked Derek.  
  
Derek looked up at him and nodded. "But I still need to work on your left arm, so hold your sandwich with your right hand."  
  
Stiles nodded and Isaac pushed a plate over to him and watched as his eyes widened comically. He took a big big at first and looked over at Isaac. “‘This is so good!” He muttered, mouth full.  
  
“Stiles.” Derek said to get his attention.  
  
Stiles looked back at Derek and frowned.  
  
“You have to stay still for a minute, okay?” Stiles swallowed, still eyeing the alpha. “Can you do that?”  
  
“Surethingbigguy.” Stiles winked, smashing his sentence together.  
  
Danny laughed next to him. “You said ‘big eye’.” Danny giggled as he slapped Stiles’ arm.  
  
Stiles agreed as he chimed in laughing as well.  
  
Isaac buried his face in his hands and sighed before running a hand through his unruly bed head. “Jesus. how drunk are you two?” He muttered to himself.  
  
“Twelve.” Danny answered.  
  
Derek and and his beta shared a look as Isaac squinted in confusion and mouthed, “Twelve?” Derek just shook his head and continued to wrap Stiles arm in goss.  
  
“Isaac!” Danny yelled excitedly as he swiveled around on the bar stool. “Hey!” He called again, trying to further get the blond’s attention,even though he had already had it for the past three seconds. “You’ll never guess what we did!”  
  
Isaac shushed him and tried to get him to settle down a little because Cora was still sound asleep. “Aside from getting plastered and waking the entire building up with your loud obnoxious rambling…what did you guys do?” He asked sarcastically.  
  
“Two words,” Stiles slurred as he turned in his chair to look at Isaac. “Beer. Bong.”  
  
Isaac heard a soft “oh my God” from Derek as he packed up the first aid kit and rose to his feet.  
  
“I don’t even understand why, or _how_ , is the better question. You two even got into a party in the first place…” Isaac stated grumpily.  
  
“It was at a frat house.” Danny explained.  
  
“They had dollars beers.” Stiles added.  
  
“And two dollar shots.” Danny chimed in once more.  
  
“And he,” Stiles swiveled and pointed at Danny, “bet me two large pizzas that I couldn’t drink ten beers.” He smiled drunkenly. “I so kicked that bears ass.” Stiles slurred.  
  
“Bears? how can you drink a bear?” Danny asked with a laugh.  
  
“Alright.” Derek stepped in ruining the funny moment. “Let’s get you up.” He said and he helped Stiles to his feet. “Time for bed you two.” Isaac followed suit and helped Danny up as well.  
  
“Derek…” Stiles whined as he slumped against Derek’s broad chest. “Carry me.” He pouted as he opened his arms to Derek.  
  
The alpha just sighed and looked at him for a second before giving in and picking him up. Stiles wrapped his legs around his waist and his arms around his neck and dropped his head on his shoulder. “So warm.” He whispered against Derek’s neck.  
  
Isaac followed Derek out to the living room with Danny slumped against him, shouldering most of his weight. Isaac guided Danny down the dark narrow hallway hoping he didn’t run into the wall before he made it to his bedroom.  
  
Derek stopped at the door momentarily and double checked the deadbolt before entering his bedroom. He climbed the stairs no problem and gently laid Stiles down on the other side of the bed before ridding him of most of his clothes. Derek draped his clothing over the railing and tossed his shoes to the end of the bed before tucking him in. He stepped out of the room and hurried down the hallway back into the kitchen for the bottle of Ibuprofen and two glasses of water. He took one to Isaac and gave him two Ibuprofen for when Danny woke in a few hours and took the rest of the bottle and the other glass for when Stiles woke.  
  
The stairs creaked softly when he climbed them and made his way to Stiles side of the bed and sat the glass of water and a few Ibuprofen next to him before he crawled back into bed himself and curled up next to the drunk boy.  
  
“Derek?”  
  
“I’m right here, Stiles.” He reassured. “Go to sleep.” He ordered softly, wrapping an arm around his waist giving the back of his neck a chaste kissed.

  
\---  
  
Isaac and Derek slept for a few more hours and stepped quietly out of their rooms at around the same time the next morning.  
  
“Morning.” Isaac greeted sleepily as he padded barefoot across the cold wood floor and into the kitchen.  
  
“Morning.” Derek replied. “Did you get any sleep?” He asked. grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl off the counter.  
  
“Yeah. He was out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow.” The beta explained. “Stiles?”  
  
Derek shrugged. “it was alright for the first fifteen minutes, then he kept talking, and groping me inappropriately.” Isaac chuckled. “He’s a needy drunk.” Derek informed.  
  
“Should we get them breakfast?” Isaac asked. “They’re going to be even more whiney when they wake up.”  
  
“Not to mention hungover as fuck.” Derek said. “It’ll probably be a good idea. I suggest something all greasy and totally unhealthy for them. Maybe a beer?” He shrugged.  
  
Isaac looked at Derek for a second. “My friend at Brew Nation—”  
  
“Whoa! You have friends in New York?” Derek teased with a grin.  
  
“Shut your damn mouth!” Isaac laughed. “My friend has this recipe for broccoli and cheese soup that’s amazing for hangovers. I can get it.”   
  
The two of them got dressed and headed downtown to a little diner and grabbed the boys something to eat. They had only been gone for an hour and they walked into the apartment to see Danny sprawled out on the couch in front of the fireplace and Stiles on the other couch across the room with a blanket over his head to block the sun that shone through the bay windows.  
  
“So loud!” Danny groaned as one of the werewolves closed the door.  
  
“Looks like the hangover squad is all accounted for.” Isaac said out of the corner of his mouth in Derek’s direction.  
  
“I heard that, Lahey.” Danny mumbled, his arm thrown over his face to block out the sun rays.  
  
Derek walked into the kitchen and sat the bag of food on the island then walked over to Stiles and bent down to gently kiss his forehead. “Babe? We got you some food.” He said softly.  
  
Stiles grunted and waved him off. “C’mon. you’ll feel better after you eat.” Derek whispered.  
  
“Food bad. Sleep good.” Stiles muttered.  
  
Derek ran his fingers through Stiles' hair and kissed his head once more before standing.  
  
"Well," Derek sighed walking back across the room. "Looks like they don't want to be awake right now."  
  
Derek collapsed into one of the chairs and exhaled all the air from his lungs. "Don't you have work today?"  
  
Isaac shook his head, "nope. Thank god! Because, this—" he gestured back and forth between Stiles and Danny. "Is a goddamn train wreck." He explained.  
  
Derek laughed and scrubbed his face with his hand.  
  
"What about you?" He asked.  
  
"Oh!" Derek answered after a minutes of being lost in his thoughts. "Not much to do today really, besides I really need to mail those blue prints to Maxwell up in Buffalo."  
  
"Oh..." Isaac says, "what are you building in Buffalo?"  
  
"A cube farm." Derek explains with mock enthusiasm.  
  
"Awesome."  
  
Stiles was surprisingly the first to wake from the nap that him and Danny had taken a few hours ago. He got up and walked to the bathroom then came back and sat down by Derek with a grumpy, unpleased look before burying his face in Derek's side.  
  
"Sleep good?" Derek asked, rubbing circles into the boys back.  
  
"No." Stiles pouted in reply.  
  
"No?" Derek's voice rose a few octaves higher. "Why's that? Is it because you're so grumpy?" He asked.  
  
"No." Stiles repeated before burying his face back into Derek's side.  
  
Derek put his arm around Stiles and pulled him close. "We got some food for you grumpy, hungover college kids." He whispered into Stiles' dark hair before he planted a kiss in the same spot.  
  
Stiles moved away from the warmth of Derek's side and reluctantly rose to his feet to find his food in the kitchen.  
  
That's when Stiles noticed his arm. He looked at it in confusion for a second, then turned to Derek and Isaac in the living room.  
  
"Der..."  
  
Derek peered over at him and waited for him to continue.  
  
"Why is this on my arm?" He asked, raising his arm, his voice still thick with sleep.  
  
"I guess you fell up the stairs on the way up here last night during your drunken adventure with Danny." He explained.  
  
Stiles came back in the living room and curled up his same spot next to Derek with his styrofoam box of food. "Thank you for getting this." Stiles said around a mouthful of bacon.  
  
Derek smiled over at him, "no problem."  
  
Danny woke up a little less grumpier than Stiles did.  
  
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." Derek greeted with a grin. "How'd you sleep?" He asked.  
  
Danny sighed deeply and rubbed his head.  
  
"Rough night?" Isaac laughed.  
  
"Just a little." Danny said. "What even happened last night?" He asked, whipping his head toward Stiles.  
  
He raised his arm. "Apparently I fell on the steps, racing you up to the apartment." He confessed.  
  
Danny chuckled. "What time is it? What time did we even get here?" He asked.  
  
"2:17." Isaac pointed to the cable box.  
  
"About three o'clock in the fucking morning." Derek told him. "You guys were banging on the door until I answered it. I'm surprised none of the neighbors were disturbed."  
  
Stiles and Danny looked at one another and frowned. Stiles mouthing and “oops” and he brought the fork back up to his mouth.  
  
“Cora wasn’t here was she?” Danny asked carefully.  
  
“I’m not sure.” Derek said.  
  
“She was here for dinner last night.” Isaac said. “Oh!” He blurted out. “speaking of food--There’s some on the kitchen counter for you, sweet thang!” Isaac winked at the boy across from him making him blush as he got up and made his way to the kitchen.  
  
Derek furrowed his brow in confusion and squinted at his beta. “Sweet thang?” The Alpha grimaced.  
  
Stiles elbowed Derek lightly and made him gasp for air. “I think it’s cute.” He said around his toast. “Leave him alone!” He exclaimed. Stiles turned his attention back to his food. “Always gotta pick on the baby..” He muttered under his breath.  
  
Derek turned his head, “Isaac is _not_ a baby.” He announced.  
  
“Excuse me?” Stiles glared at him.  
  
“He’s just a few months younger than you.” The alpha pointed out.  
  
Stiles cleared his throat to ready himself for the rambling he was about to do. “I’ll have you know, Alpha—” Stiles poked Derek with the end of his fork. “That Isaac _is_ if fact a tiny baby. Yeah, sure. He’s a few months younger than me.” He shrugged, “but did you noticed how when he first joined the pack, everyone was picking on and teasing him?” He asked. “Did you notice how you always did small things for him that you didn’t do for any of the other members of the pack when we were all still in Beacon Hills?”  
  
Derek huffed in disbelief. “Like what?”  
  
“We’d favor him!” Stiles said loudly, to get his point across. “He’d curl up between us during movies, you cuddle with him when he gets scared and you’d share your nasty Boston Nuts with him.”  
  
“They’re called Charleston Chews!” Isaac stated.  
  
“Whatever! They’re nasty!” Stiles replied. “ _And_ I've never ever seen you let anyone else in the pack get in your precious Camaro. Besides me.”  
  
“Don't flatter yourself, princess." Derek joked. "No one in the pack has ever been in the Camaro except you.” Derek explained. "And Erica and I hardly like you."  
  
Danny suppressed a laugh.  
  
“He’s lying.” Isaac said nonchalantly.  
  
“How many times have you been in the Camaro?” Stiles turned in his seat to look at the blond that was sitting adjacent from him.  
  
“Multiple times. I go with him places all the time. He even let’s me touch the radio.” The young beta grinned.  
  
“Same!” Stiles laughed as he leaned forward to give Isaac a well deserved high five.  
  
Derek shook his head at two of them. “Neither of you are setting foot in the Camaro.” He said teasingly. “Don’t even so much as look at it.”  
  
“You’re nineteen, Lahey.” Danny said as he sat down with his food. “Technically in the United States, you’re legally considered an adult at the age of eighteen.”  
  
“Yeah, but when he was sixteen Derek took him in and he lived with him in his loft. We’re like parents to him.” Stiles said. “Right?” He asked looking at Isaac. the blond nodded.  
  
“I missed them when I was in Paris with Chris.” Isaac informed.  
  
“See?” Stiles blurted out. “Papa Wolf,” He gestured to Derek. “Mama Wolf.” He gestured to himself. “Wolf cub.” He gestured to Isaac.  
  
“When I got to New York, We couldn’t leave the airport because Derek scented me for like five million hours!” Isaac cried, flailing his arms every which way.  
  
Stiles glanced over at Derek, who had been sporting a smug little smile. He’s a giant softy once you get passed all that brooding anger. Derek loved Isaac just as much as everyone else did and even if he put on the tough guy act in front of other people, he truly did care for Isaac as if he were his own son. Isaac knew it and Stiles knew it.

  
\---  
  
"We're not dating!" Stiles said for the billionth time.  
  
"Might as well be." Lydia replied as Kira came into the frame and sat on Scott's bed.  
  
Stiles has tried for the last two weeks to get everyone to do a Skype date and all of them had nothing to do on this particular night. So they made it work.  
  
Stiles swiveled in the computer chair to look at Derek. "Are you hearing this shit?"  
  
"Yes." Derek answered as he idly flipped through a magazine. He was lounging on the couch, bare feet propped up on the glass coffee table.  
  
"He doesn't like to put a label on things." Stiles said. "We're still not dating."  
  
"But you're over at his house everyday, you eat his food, annoy him, sleep in his bed, breath the same air as he does...."  
  
"She's got a point.." Derek pipes in.  
  
"Shut your mouth, Sourwolf."  
  
"See!" Lydia nearly squeaks. "He agrees."  
  
"What are you a couples counselor now?" Stiles asked mildly offended. "Where's Scott and Liam?"  
  
"So Derek," Kira started, making him look up. "Are you, Isaac and Cora coming home for Thanksgiving next month?"  
  
"I don't know." He answered.  
  
"Why not?" Came a familiar voice as a door closed. Liam popped in in front of the camera.  
  
"Liam!" Stiles gasped.  
  
"Are we late? Please tell me we're not? I miss my bro!"  
  
"Scotty!" Stiles shrieked.  
  
Derek winced and glared at him.  
  
"No calls, no texts... What am I, chopped liver?"  
  
Stiles grinned, "alright man, bring it in, virtual hug, c'mon." Stiles leaned into toward the screen the same time Scott did.  
  
"Where's everyone else?" Scott asked, eyes shifting as he only stopped Derek on the couch.  
  
"Work. Should be here shortly."  
  
"Why's Derek over there brooding in the corner?" Liam asked. "Derek, come talk to us, buddy! Stop being so antisocial."  
  
Derek deadpanned at the screen. "I'm fine right here." He said.  
  
Stiles looked at him over his shoulder and sighed before turning his attention back to the computer screen. "I'm gonna deal with Sourwolf over here." He gestured to Derek over his shoulder. "We'll call back tomorrow?" He suggested slowly.  
  
There was a chorus of "yeahs" before Stiles ended the call and spun around to glare at Derek. Who had been so engrossed in reading an interesting article about daily exercise routines that he didn't realize that he was being watched until he looked up from his magazine. "What?" He asked flatly.  
  
"What. The hell. Is the matter. With you?" Stiles hissed through clenched teeth.  
  
Derek shrugged, "nothing. I just didn't want to be bothered." He said simply.  
  
Stiles' rolled his eyes so he thought they might actually roll to the back of his head. "You could've left the room." He huffed. "You know how long Scott and I have been planning that fucking Skype call? Three weeks. Three weeks, Derek! You have no idea how hard it is to get every one of us together, even if it's for an hour!" Stiles was fuming, he began to pace the floor. Derek wasn't even listening to him ramble on about how Scott and every one else is in California and he's here and they hardly talk to each other since they're all so busy.  
  
"Are you done?" Derek asked flatly, looking up from his magazine.  
  
Stiles gaped at him for a second and blinked a few times before sighing heavily and rounding the table to sit at the end of the couch by Derek's feet. "I'm sorry..." He said softly. "It's just that I haven't seen them in almost two months and they just wanted to say hi to everyone. If I'd would have known you didn't want to be bothered I would've taken my laptop in the other room." He explained. He rubbed a hand over Derek's sweatpants-clad shin. "Why didn't you say anything?"  
  
"Grumpy."  
  
"Touché."  
  
Stiles crawled his way up to Derek's lap and pulls the magazine out of his hands and tosses it on the floor and straddles Derek's thick thighs and gives him a chaste kiss. "You wanna Netflix and chill?" Stiles whispered and wiggled his eyebrows at the werewolf.  
  
Derek pulled back and looked at Stiles in confusion. "What?"  
  
And Stiles just gapes at him because Derek isn't that much older than him, he should know what that means, but he doesn't, which makes Stiles frown. "Never mind." He sighed.  
  
Stiles ran his fingers through Derek's dark hair. "Maybe you're grumpy because you didn't get much sleep last night."  
  
"I got plenty of sleep last night."  
  
"Take a nap, Sourwolf." Stiles mumbled into Derek's bicep. "I'll even take one with you. That way we can snuggle." Stiles chirped.  
  
Derek slides down the couch only to pull Stiles into his arms so that they're lying chest to back. Derek closes his eyes and breathes deeply, holding the boy close. "Yeah," he says softly into the back of Stiles' neck and Stiles just chuckles because Derek's hot breath is tickling the spot he's currently breathing on. "We can definitely snuggle."  
  
They sleep for awhile before Derek is woken up by the sound of someone or multiple someone's entering the apartment.  
  
Isaac and Cora.  
  
And Danny?  
  
He's been coming over a lot lately.  
  
Derek shifts slowly to sit up and remove himself from the couch without waking Stiles. Once he's off the couch he drapes the blanket from the back of the couch over Stiles before leaving the room.  
  
He makes his way to the kitchen where the three of them are chatting.  
  
"Hey!" Isaac called, "are they still going to Skype us?" He asked excitedly.  
  
Still in a slight sleep induced haze Derek sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "No," he answers groggily. "I was being an asshole, so he had to cut it short."  
  
"What'd you do this time?" Cora asked with a laugh.  
  
"Being my usual brooding self— you know me." Derek told her.  
  
She patted his back as he walked passed him. "Sounds like you." She teased with a laugh.  
  
\---  
  
"You  _are_ coming home for Thanksgiving, right?" Lydia asked.  
  
"We've already been over this, you know I am! I haven't seen you guys for two months!" Why would Lydia ask such a question? They knew he was coming home, he told them all just before he left for New York.  
  
"But how are you getting home?" Malia asked in the background.  
  
"Plane." Stiles said. "Derek bought me a ticket, he doesn't want me driving the Jeep home." He pouted.  
  
"He's coming too?" Lydia asked. "They're all coming too, right?"  
  
What was this, twenty questions?  
  
"Lydia." Stiles said. "Calm down, alright? I got everything covered. Just let me worry about all that."  
  
Ever since Stiles' Jeep started acting up a few months ago, everyone had gotten worried about Stiles' and how he planned to get around. All of his friends offered to take him where he needed to go. All of them were surprised that the Jeep even made it to New York. Now Derek was against him driving all the way across the country _again._ That's why Sourwolf bought him a ticket home.  
  
There isn't anything that Stiles loves more than his Jeep— the Sheriff, probably, but everyone knew that. That was his first car, it was already in bad shape when he got it. Now it mostly sits in the shop.  
  
Derek told Isaac and Cora that if something else were to happen to Stiles' Jeep, Stiles would probably cry and mope around for a long time and Derek doesn't think he can stand to watch that happen. He doesn't even think that Stiles would ever drive a different car.  
  
"We'll be waiting for you. Do you want someone to pick you up when your flight lands?" He heard over the line.  
  
It took him a minute to get back to reality. He shook away his thoughts and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. That'd be great, thanks."  
  
“Awesome!” Lydia chirped. “What time do you touch down?” She asked.  
  
“11:30 AM on November 20th.” Stiles explained.  
  
“Don’t you have class though?” Lydia asked, a little confused.  
  
“Nope.” He said. “I have a half day on Thursday, no class on Friday.” He explained. “That way I can start packing soon, but I honestly think that I won’t start packing until the _very_ last minute— because you know me— the procrastinator.” He laughed.  
  
"Ain't that the truth?" Lydia teased.  
  
By the time Stiles got off the phone with Lydia, Derek walked out of his bedroom.  
  
Stiles saw movement out of his peripheral and looked up in surprise. "Oh." He gasped softly. "You're finished doing adult stuff?" He teased with a grin.  
  
Derek smiled, "that "adult stuff" is very important, Mister." He laughed as he plopped down next to the boy on the couch.  
  
Stiles laughed and nudged him with his elbow. "Not to me, it's not."  
  
"What are you doing?" Derek asked running his fingers through Stiles hair.  
  
"Nothing." Stiles sighed. "Just trying to arrange a ride from the airport when I go home for Thanksgiving."  
  
Derek nodded. "Are you excited to see everyone?" He asked.  
  
"Yes!" Stiles sighed as he sunk further into the couch, smashing his cheek against Derek's broad shoulder. "I just want to hug everyone. Maybe sleep in a huge puppy pile." He grinned.  
  
"That sounds nice" Derek stated, gently nudging his elbow into Stiles' stomach.  
  
Stiles laughed. "I wish you guys could go with me." He pouted. "They all want to see you— even my dad! Which is surprising, seeing on how he threatened your life on more than one occasion.  
  
"I want to see all of them too."  
  
"It's not too late," Stiles said feeling hopeful. "We can get you a ticket! I don't leave for a few more days."  
  
"I wish I could." Derek said with a smile before he kissed the top of Stiles' head. "Who's going to watch the pack while i'm gone? What if I come home to a burned down apartment?"  
  
Stiles laughed. "Yeah. That wouldn't be good."  
  
Derek chuckled, "no it wouldn't."

  
\---  
  
"Stiles!" Derek yelled on the side of the door with a quick knock. "I found a bigger suitcase."  
  
Stiles pulled the door open and grabbed the suitcase from Derek's hands.  
  
"Whoa!" Derek threw his hands up in mock surrender. "Glad to see you too, Przemyslaw."  
  
Stiles ignored him and shuffled frantically around the room trying to gather everything he needed to go home to Beacon Hills for Thanksgiving.  
  
Derek sat quietly on Danny's bed for a minute watching the boy. He never slowed down. He does everything in such a rushed manor, it kind of makes Derek's head spin. "This wouldn't be a problem if you just took my advice and started packing last week, Krysztof." Derek mentioned.  
  
Stiles rolled his eyes at that. "When have I ever taken advice from any of you?" He asked as he began picking clothes up off the floor and tossing them in the open suitcase. "And don't call me Krysztof." He pouted.  
  
"Never." Derek replied, ignoring Stiles' request. Derek would call Stiles whatever he liked and Stiles couldn't do anything about it.  
  
"Exactly." Stiles said. "So why would I start now?"  
  
Derek watched as Stiles tried and failed to zip the suitcase shut. He kept at it for about another minute or two before he started getting frustrated. "What the fuck?" He groaned as the zipper kept getting stuck.  
  
Derek rose from the bed and crossed the room, first leaning down to plant a chaste kiss on Stiles' lips before he intervened between the two. "Let me."  
  
Derek unzipped it once more and examined the inside. He shook his head at Stiles' organization skills, or lack there of. He started pulling everything out and tossing it onto the bed. He brought one of Stiles' shirts to his nose and inhaled.  
  
Instant regret was Derek's current thought as he gagged then started coughing. "Jesus fucking Christ," he yelled, throwing the shirt as if it had burnt him. "When's the last time you did your goddamn laundry?" He gasped, fighting for a breath of fresh air.  
  
"Two weeks ago..."  
  
"Two weeks?" Derek gaped.  
  
"Uh, yeah, Derek." He said flatly. "It's five dollars to do one load of laundry in the basement and I don't exactly have a job at the moment, so all of my clothes kind of reek." He explained with his usual amount of sarcasm.  
  
"Stiles, you _know_ I have washers and dryers in my building, and you _know_ you can come use them at anytime. Hell, i'll even give you quarters to run them." He said.  
  
"Okay." Stiles mumbled.  
  
"You'd better put all this shit in the washer when you get back home. It smells fucking horrible."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Derek survived packing Stiles' suitcase. He'll be calling the Sheriff to make sure his clothes get washed. He set the suitcase on the floor under the window by the desk before he took a seat next to Stiles. "You alright?" Derek asked softly.  
  
Stiles nodded.  
  
"Tell me." Derek whispered, kissing Stiles' fabric-clad shoulder.  
  
"I want you to go back with me..."  
  
Derek sighed. They'd been over this just last week. "You know I would if I didn't have such irresponsible betas to look after."  
  
Stiles frowned. It was worth another shot, he thought.  
  
Derek pulled him closer and kissed his temple. "It's only for what? A week? Then you'll be back here with us before you know it."  
  
"You're right," Stiles said sadly. "It's just that everyone misses you as much as they miss me, y'know? You just left Beacon Hills without telling anyone... They haven't seen you in awhile." He looked at the floor. "It'd just be nice for you to show up with me or whatever and surprise everyone."  
  
"I would like to see everyone. Maybe at Christmas." Derek suggested.  
  
"What will you do while I'm gone?" Stiles asked.  
  
"Well, the same thing I was doing before you came here for college— work."  
  
Stiles nodded. "That's no fun."  
  
"No. No it's not," Derek chuckled.  
  
"Build me something awesome while i'm gone, yeah?" Stiles patted Derek's chest as he got up and walked in the bathroom to grab his tooth brush from the medicine cabinet.  
  
Derek laughed and shook his head. You know I don't actually _build_ stuff, right?" He asked. "I draw up what I want the buildings to look like, totally different."  
  
"Well, draw me something awesome," he corrected himself.  
  
"If you say so." Derek chuckled.

  
\---  
  
Stiles made several trips to the store within the last few days to get a few things before he left to go home.  
  
He also begged Derek to go with him one last time before he left. Derek's answer was still a firm no. So Stiles stayed at Derek's before he had to leave the next morning.  
  
Cuddled against the sleeping alpha in a warm cocoon of blankets, whose slumber was disturbed by his loud alarm that told him that Stiles had to be at the airport in an hour and a half, he untangled himself from the boy and gave him a gentle shake. "Stiles." His name was a silent whisper in the dark room.  
  
Stiles replied with a soft groan and turned over.  
  
"Stiles, get up. You have to get ready." Derek said.  
  
"'M already ready." Stiles muttered.  
  
"Przemyslaw." Derek said as he walked to the end of the bed and pulled the covers off of the boy.  
  
Stiles lifted his head off the pillow to look at werewolf. "Derek, what the fuck?" He cried, groggily.  
  
"Get up. Get ready. We have to leave. I'll make some coffee." Derek said before climbing down from the loft to exit the room.  
  
"I'm not allowed to have coffee." Stiles pouted grumpily.  
  
He climbed out of bed and down the staircase and slowly dragged his feet toward the bathroom.  
  
He was in there a good fifteen minutes before he came out to get dressed.  
  
He threw on a his Twenty-One Pilots shirt and a pair of black jeans he left over here a few weeks ago, that were haphazardly thrown in Derek's closet.  
  
Stiles was tossing clothing out of the closet, searching for his red hoodie, but he couldn't seem to find it. He was starting to become angry that he still couldn't find it. It had to be here. He wore it two days ago.  
  
He made his way into the kitchen where Derek was sat at the bar reading his book while he waited for the coffee to finish brewing.  
  
"Have you seen my fucking hoodie?" Stiles asked, huffing with rage.  
  
"Shhh!" Derek replied, furrowing his eyebrows. "There's still people sleeping." He explained. "What hoodie?"  
  
"The one I wear all the time?" Stiles asked.  
  
Derek's eyes strayed form his book to look at Stiles. "You wear a ton of hoodies, Stiles." He said flatly.  
  
"You know? My fucking red one." He explained. "I wore it over here the other day and I thought it was in your closet, but I couldn't find it."  
  
The coffee pot beeped, indicating that the coffee was done. Derek laid his book face down so he wouldn't lose his page and got up and made his way over the coffee. He pulled a mug out of the cabinet and poured himself a cup before reply to Stiles.  
  
It was extremely too early for him to he this upset over a article of clothing.  
  
"You checked the closet?" Derek asked as he sipped his coffee slowly.  
  
"Yes," Stiles answered with a tone Derek couldn't quite place. It was almost as if he were getting aggravated that Derek wasn't answering him fast enough.  
  
"The office?"  
  
"Yes—" Stiles groaned outright. "I don't have fucking time for you to play twenty questions over a hoodie. I'll just find my Mets hoodie. I know it's here somewhere."  
  
"Hey," Derek called.  
  
"What?" Stiles snapped as he turned around.  
  
"Why are you getting all upset?" Derek asked softly. He pushed himself off the counter and made his way over to Stiles, wrapping him into a one armed hug.  
  
Stiles pushed him away. "I don't have time for this, we have to go soon and I can't find my hoodie."  
  
Derek could sense he was on the verge of tears.  
  
"Hey," Derek called again, pulling him closer once more. "I know this isn't _just_ about your hoodie."  
  
Stiles looked at him, but didn't say a word because he knew if he opened his mouth, Derek would just tell him not to bring it up again.  
  
"Is this about me not going with you, isn't it?" Derek asked.  
  
Derek could feel every huff of Stiles' breath against his shoulder. "It's fine, I know." He mumbled into the fabric of Derek's red henley. "You have to "take care of the beta's", so i'm not going to say anything because you'll yell at me for it."  
  
"I won't yell at you." Derek promised. "It's exhausting repeating myself like that. I feel like I'm talking to a five year old."  
  
"Exactly my point." Stiles said, while flailing his arms.  
  
"You got everything?" Derek asked, switching the subject.  
  
"Yeah." Stiles nodded.  
  
"Oh!" Derek gasped. "Your pillow. Don't forget your pillow."  
  
"Shit." Stiles exclaimed before running off like a spazz to grab it real quick. When he came back, he was bent over slightly gasping for air. Derek knew he was clearly out of shape. "Thank god, that would've been the absolute _shittiest_ sleep I ever would've had."  
  
"Got it." He panted heavily.  
  
Soft footsteps were coming toward the kitchen. A tufted of blond curls emerged out of the darkness first. "You guys haven't left yet?" He asked with a yawn.  
  
"No, we're about to head out though." Derek said as he drained the last bit of his coffee, then rinsed out his mug and sat it in the sink. He pulled a portable thermos out of the cabinet and poured some more coffee into it.  
  
Isaac was hanging onto Stiles when he turned around. "I'll miss you too, buddy." Stiles replied.  
  
"You want to go with us?" Derek asked his beta. "That way I have some company on the drive back." Derek smiled and gave Isaac's shoulder a squeeze as he passed him.  
  
"But Danny's asleep in my bed..." Isaac tossed a finger over his shoulder.  
  
"Ah! He'll still be asleep when we get back. It's  alright." Derek told him. "Get your shoes." Isaac ran off to find his shoes and Derek stepped closer to Stiles and pulled the boy into his arms. "And you—" Stiles blinked up at him. "You need to tell me goodbye because I won't see you for a week." He said before leaning in to kiss Stiles.  
  
Stiles wrapped his arms around Derek's neck and got up on his tip toes to deepen the kiss. Derek must have thought that was his queue because he bent down a bit further so Stiles had a little more access.  
  
Derek took Stiles' face into his hands and brushed his thumb across his right cheek bone. Stiles was the one to pull away when he heard Isaac enter the room again.  
  
"Found them." Isaac peered down at his feet and wiggled his toes with a sleepy smile.  
  
Stiles blushed and wiped his mouth as if Derek's kiss had left something behind.  
  
Derek kept his hand on Stiles' lower back and looked down at him with a warm smile for what had felt like minutes, before he broke the silence with, "we should get going. We have a half hour drive ahead of us." Stiles nodded in agreement.  
  
Derek started to walk away, Stiles and Isaac following close behind. "Are you sure you have everything?" Derek asked as a precaution.  
  
Stiles looked toward the door where two of his bags sat piled up beside it. His pillow was the most important. He had his computer, and his phone.  
  
They put their jackets on and Derek opened the door and picked up both bags and walked out into the hallway. Isaac made sure Derek had the keys before Stiles locked it and shut it tight.  
  
"I'll be calling the sheriff to make sure you got all these clothes washed, Stiles." Derek said as they made their way to the elevator.  
  
"What?" Isaac whispered in disbelief, afraid he'd wake the other tenants in the building if he spoke any louder. "You didn't wash your clothes before you packed?" Isaac asked.  
  
"No," Stiles replied as he made his way into the elevator. "Are you coming?" Stiles asked Isaac.  
  
"Claustrophobic, remember?" Isaac replied. "I'll take the stairs." He said before the doors closed.  
  
\---  
  
Stiles got a window seat on the plane and just about slept the entire way to California.  
  
The flight attendant, Jessica, woke him when the other passengers we exiting the plane. He grabbed his pillow and carry on and made his way slowly off the plane.  
  
Just inside the double doors there were people with signs waiting on passengers of different flights.  
  
It was impossible to miss Lydia's strawberry blonde hair in the crowd of people, along with her sign that read "Stilinski" in big, red letters.  
  
"Stiles!" She called with a wave of her hand and a big smile.  
  
She met him half way and crashed into him with a tight hug. He felt like her grip was getting tighter and tighter. "Easy, Lyds! It's like you have seen me in almost two months." He teased as the two of them pulled apart.  
  
She giggled and offered to carry his things. "How was your flight?" She asked as they walked over to the baggage claim.  
  
Stiles just shrugged. "I slept the entire time."  
  
"What time did you wake up this morning?"  
  
"4:30." Stiles replied.  
  
Lydia nodded. "Everyone's excited to see you." She exclaimed with a bright smile. "How come no one else came with you?" She asked curiously. "I would have though at least Derek would have been with you."  
  
"He didn't want to leave Isaac and Cora alone. Something about the fear of coming home to a pile of ashes and dust." He explained. "I miss everyone too. How's my dad? He's still eating healthy, right?" He asked. "Last time I talked to him one of his deputies bought him a bacon cheeseburger— If I find out it was Parrish—" He trailed off.  
  
Lydia's eyes lit up as she heard his name. "Speaking of Parrish..." She nudged Stiles and gave him a wink.  
  
Stiles eyes went wide. "Wait... you mean you guys..."  
  
Lydia nodded.  
  
"Did the cell block tango?" He finished.  
  
Lydia looked at him in complete surprise. "What?"  
  
"Because if you did, I'm going to kick his ass."  
  
"Stiles," Lydia tried to stop him from rambling like he always did. "We didn't fuck in a cell. That's highly unsanitary and completely un-lady like. If we were to ever have sex it would be in a bed." Stiles nodded. "Or on every flat surface in his apartment." She muttered under her breathe.  
  
"Lydia Martin," Stiles gasped. "You goddamn minx." He teased. He saw his luggage come around on the conveyor belt and went to grab it.  
  
That word made Lydia blush a deep red color.  
  
Normally Stiles would be upset at the thought of Lydia being sexually involved with someone else, but he's had a thing for Derek for _years_ now, so he's happy Lydia found someone to make her happy. He'll just be sure to make sure his dad knows of Jordan and Lydia's togetherness, so that if he ever hurts her, He'll be without a girl and a job. The thought made Stiles laugh to himself as they headed toward the double doors to the front parking lot to the car. He doubts Parrish would do anything to harm a strawberry-blonde hair on her head.  
  
\---

  
They made the hour drive from the airport to Beacon Hills and Stiles was fidgeting with excitement to see his friends and family. To his surprise Lydia was taking the route to Scott's house. They must all be there awaiting his arrival, or so he hoped. He wanted to hug all of them and he wanted to hug his dad then proceed to yell at him for the cheeseburger he devoured the other day.  
  
She parked the car on the curb in front of the McCall residents and got out. Stiles following suit, after he had grabbed his bags from the trunk. She took the pathway leading up to the front porch, where as Stiles took a shortcut through the grass.  
  
It was weird being in New York for two months and being in the snow and freezing cold with a big ass coat, then coming home to California only to shed as coat and only have to wear a hoodie because there was no snow there.  
  
He followed Lydia inside, his bags still in his hands because he had no clue where to put them.  
  
"Hello?" Lydia called through the seemingly empty house. She stopped for a brief moment to kick her sneakers off in the living room— which Stiles has _never ever_ seen her wear in the few years that they've known each other— and continue on to the kitchen. Stiles sat his bags down next out the couch out of the way and met her in here.  
  
"Look who I found at the airport!" Lydia said. She stepped aside and Stiles grinned at all the familiar faces in his friend's kitchen. There was a loud chorus of "hello's" when she stepped aside.  
  
The sheriff came up first, hugging him tightly. He pulled away after a few seconds to inspect his son. "They didn't get you hooked on drugs or give you any tattoos or piercings, did they?" He teased as he lifted the boy's slightly toned arms, then turned his head to the left and right to see if he had gotten those gaping holes in his ears that kids these days were doing. (Sorry Kara!)  
  
He pulled his arms away from his dad and laughed. "No, I'm not on drugs. Nor do I have any tattoos or piercings." Stiles explained truthfully, so his dad's blood pressure would stay where it was.  
  
He saw Scott out of his peripheral inching closer to him and he grinned at that as he turned toward him. "I saw you coming toward me, dude." Scott's eye's went wide as he burst out laughing. "See, there's this thing called peripheral vision. You should try it some time." Stiles laughed and pulled his best friend into a crushing hug. "How's my second favorite alpha slash best friend doing?" He asked, after pulling away. It might have been kinda, sorta gay to hug your best friend for that long, but the two of them have been apart for awhile now, so fuck it.  
  
"What do you mean _"second favorite"?_ We've been best friends since before we even knew Derek." Scott shot suspicious, squinty eyes at his best friend.  
  
"Yes, I know, but Derek was born a werewolf and you were bitten by his creepy, psychotic uncle." Stiles explained. "Therefore, making you, Scott McCall my second favorite alpha." Stiles said with a smile, while pinching Scott's cheek.  
  
Stiles made his way around the kitchen hugging everyone and saying hi to them. Last but not least he made his way over to Melissa who was still making breakfast for everyone and slid his arm around her, pulling her into a one armed hug and kissing her cheek. "Hey, mom." Stiles said. "How's it going? Did you miss me?" He grinned.  
  
She smiled. "I missed you so much, I'm ready for you to go back to New York." She said jokingly. "How's everything up there, d'you like it?"  
  
"Yeah," He nodded. "Except for I'm freezing my ass off up there. I bought my first winter coat." He explained. He couldn't believe he'd hear himself say that, ever.  
  
"How's Derek and Cora?" She asked with a laugh.  
  
"They're good." He said. "They don't live but ten minutes from campus. I stay there a lot."  
  
Scott must have heard him because he looked up, "I take it everything is good with Derek then?"  
  
"Yeah, we got all that sorted out months ago." Stiles said from across the room. "We're actually sort of— a thing or whatever?" Stiles finished sounding unsure of his words. He couldn't find the right words to describe what he and Derek were at the moment. "We're still working out the kinks."  
  
Opening his mouth about Derek earned him some "woo's!" and a glare from his dad.  
  
"What's everyone up to?" Malia asked.  
  
"Well," Stiles started as he leaned against the counter. "First off, you guys probably already know that Derek Hale has a 4 bedroom apartment, _with furniture!_ And Cora owns her own coffee shop." He added with smirk. "Which has the absolute best coffee I've ever tasted, because you know all that time she spent in South America?" He asked. His friend nodded. "That's where she gets all her coffee beans. And Brew Nation... That's what she called it is where Danny and I go when we have time to get coffee in the morning before classes."  
  
"Danny?" Lydia asked. "Is that your roommate?"  
  
"Yeah," Stiles started. "You know? Mahealani?"  
  
"Danny's your roommate?" Scott gaped.  
  
"Yes." Stiles nodded. "And Isaac is back from Paris because he wanted to live with Derek and which— Oh! That reminds me Danny and Isaac are sort of a thing." Stiles winked.  
  
Kira, Malia, and Liam just sat there dumbfound. They had no clue what they were talking about until Melissa saw their faces and translated.  
  
"Danny and Isaac were friends with Stiles, Scott, and Lydia. And Cora is Derek's sister." She clarified, receiving nods from the three of them.  
  
"Also, Isaac and Scott used to date, but then he went to France with Allison's dad and yeah, I'm going to stop talking." He said, noticing Liam's yellow eye's glowing as he growled low in his throat.  
  
Scott laid a hand on Liam's. "Stop that." He whispered. "It was nearly 3 years ago."  
  
"So," Stiles spoke up, breaking the awkward silence. "4 days until turkey day, any plans?"  
  
"Mom, Sheriff," Scott said looking back and forth between both of their parents. "That's your department. you can take the reigns on this one."  
  
"We were just going to have Thanksgiving with the McCall's again this year." John said. "No sense in breaking an on going tradition five years running."  
  
"But," Melissa cut in. "We were thinking of just having all you kids over together since you're home from school, just so it gives us enough time to get sick of you before we ship your ass back to New York until Christmas." Melissa laughed.  
  
Stiles gaped at her in fake disbelief, a grin spreading across is face in seconds.  
  
"Just kidding," Melissa teased and pulled the boy close to her and giving him a big fat kiss on the cheek. "You know I love you, honey." She said as she gave his side a gentle squeeze before returning to the waffle iron and taking the remaining waffles from it.  
  
"Who's hungry?" She sing-songed.  
  
"Yes! I'm starving!" Someone said.  
  
Melissa nudge Stiles with her hip and asked him to grab the other plates on the counter and bring them to the table.  
  
Everyone in the McCall house flocked around the table and waited their turned to fill their plates and Stiles just laughed as he and Scott fought over whether sausage links or patties tasted better.  
  
a few minutes later, phones were going off simultaneously and hands were reaching across the table and into pockets to retrieve them.  
  
"Did anyone else get a text from Derek?" Malia asked.  
  
Stiles perked up at the name.  
  
"Yeah," came Kira's voice. "It's a group text saying to make sure Stiles washes all the clothes in his bags?" Her face twisted in confusion looking toward Stiles.  
  
Stiles face heated up instantly and slid down in his seat.  
  
"Dude! When's the last time you did laundry?" Scott asked with a laugh.  
  
"Uh, two weeks ago...." Stiles answered slowly.  
  
"You'd better wear a HAZMAT suit before touching those bags, sheriff." Melissa warned.  
  
His friends looked at him in disgust. "What?" Stiles whined. "It's five dollars a load and I packed last minute.  I wasn't thinking about washing my clothes at the time because I was begging Derek to come with me." He argued.  
  
John looked across the table at Melissa as if she were crazy. "Who said anything about me touching those bags? Much less doing his laundry?" He asked. The kid's nineteen for Christ sake, He's perfectly capable of doing his own laundry."  
  
For the remainder of breakfast Stiles was a laughing stock.  
  
Aside from all the teasing that was happening, it was good to be home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song that Stiles was dancing to at the beginning of the chapter is called Love Myself by Hailee Steinfeld also I've never been inside an airport or on a plane in my entire life so please forgive my lack on knowledge about the subject. I just bullshitted my way through those parts.


End file.
